NORTHERN IRELAND

Devolution

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2012, Official Report, column 358W, on devolution, what meetings she has had on devolution; who attended such meetings; what was discussed; and what steps she took after each such meeting.

Theresa Villiers: Since being appointed I have had regular meetings with a number of Ministers in the Irish Government covering a range of issues.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used to determine how asylum seekers are allocated to the detained fast track process.

Mark Harper: holding answer 5 December 2012
	Entry to the detained fast track is strictly determined by the application of published policy, “Detained Fast Track Processes”:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/asylumprocessguidance/detention/guidance/detained_fast_processes?view=Binary
	In summary, an applicant may enter into or remain in detained fast track processes only if there is a power in immigration law to detain, and only if on consideration of the known facts relating to the applicant it appears that a quick decision is possible and if none of the detained fast track suitability exclusion criteria (which relate to categories of particularly vulnerable people) apply.

Asylum: Afghanistan

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Afghan nationals living in the UK are asylum seekers.

Mark Harper: The number of asylum applications pending a decision by nationality is published on a quarterly basis. Latest figures are available in table as.01.q of the release “Immigration Statistics, July to September 2012” which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/
	At the end of September 2012, 1,078 Afghan asylum applications for main applicants were pending an initial decision, appeal or further review.

Asylum: Sudan

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential risk to failed Sudanese asylum seekers of being tortured by the Sudanese security services after removal from the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: holding answer 6 December 2012
	The UK Border Agency's Country of Origin Information (COI) Service monitors the situation in all the countries that generate asylum seekers to the UK, including the Sudan. Information is compiled from material produced by a wide range of external information sources, such as the United Nations agencies, human rights organisations, Government and NGOs and the news media. This enables the agency's decision-makers to have access to accurate, up-to-date, balanced and impartial country information.
	Guidance on handling applications for protection is also provided to case owners in an Operational Guidance Note for Sudan. Thus the agency ensures that claims for protection are considered in light of objective information.

City of London Police

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding the City of London Police has received from the private sector in each year since 2010.

Damian Green: This information is not collected by the Home Office.

Closed Circuit Television

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change there has been in the level of CCTV coverage in local authority areas since May 2010.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held centrally. The Government does not hold a view on what might be the right number of CCTV cameras in public places. What is more important is that, wherever there is a necessity to deploy CCTV in a public place, the system operator gives careful consideration to both the proportionality and effectiveness of a CCTV system in meeting its intended purpose. The Surveillance Camera Code of Practice being prepared as part of the implementation of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 will provide guidance on doing this for local authorities and other operators of overt surveillance camera systems in public places.

Detention Centres

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the capacity is of each immigration removal centre operated by the UK Border Agency.

Mark Harper: holding answer 10 December 2012
	The following table shows the capacity of immigration removal centres and residential short-term holding facilities. The UK Border Agency also established in 2011 pre-departure accommodation to support the Government's new approach to returning families without permission to be in the UK.
	
		
			  Bed capacity 
			 Immigration removal centres  
			 Brook House 426 
			 Campsfield House 216 
			 Colnbrook 408 
			 Dover 316 
			 Dungavel 217 
			 Harmondsworth 615 
			 Haslar 160 
			 Morton Hall 392 
			 Tinsley House 157 
			 Yarl's Wood 368 
			   
			 Residential short-term holding facilities  
			 Yarl's Wood 38 
			 Larne House 19 
			 Pennine House 32 
			   
			 Pre-departure accommodation  
			 Cedars(1) 44 
			 Total 3,408 
			 (1 )Accommodating up to nine families.

Detention Centres

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are being held in each immigration removal centre operated by the UK Border Agency.

Mark Harper: holding answer 10 December 2012
	The requested information is released quarterly in table dt.10.q of Immigration Statistics and is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Science, Research and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-tabs-q3-2012/detention-q3-2012-tabs?view=Binary
	The following table shows the number of people detained in immigration removal centres, short-term holding facilities and pre-departure accommodation as at 30 September 2012, the latest date for which information is published. All people held are detained in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers and exclude those in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short-term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants.
	
		
			 People in detention by place of detention, as at 30 September 2012 
			  Detainees 
			 Immigration removal centres  
			 Brook House 413 
			 Campsfield House 214 
			 Colnbrook 367 
			 Dover 303 
			 Dungavel 185 
			 Harmondsworth 592 
			 Haslar 149 
			 Morton Hall 381 
			 Tinsley House 114 
			 Yarl's Wood 351 
			   
			 Short-term holding facilities  
			 Colnbrook Short Term 4 
			 Lame House 7 
			 Pennine House 11 
			   
			 Pre-departure accommodation  
			 Cedars 0 
			 Total 3,091

Entry Clearances

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the UK Border Agency has dealt with in each visa tier in each year since 2006; and how many such cases were dealt with (a) in-country and (b) elsewhere.

Mark Harper: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The points based system (PBS) was introduced in 2008. Tier 1 was phased in between April and July 2008, Tier 2 and 5 in November 2008 and Tier 4 in April 2009.
	The figures in the tables are from 2008 and for main applicants only.
	
		
			 (a) In-country: decisions on applications for an extension of stay by category (main applicants) 
			  Category Decisions Grants Refusals 
			 2008 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 73,762 66,048 7,714 
			 2009 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 81,364 65,962 15,402 
			 2010 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 59,335 54,328 5,007 
			 2011 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 70,245 66,508 3,737 
			      
			 2008 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 43,825 42,468 1,357 
			 2009 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 30,336 27,851 2,485 
			 2010 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 23,145 21,269 1,876 
			 2011 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 19,566 18,205 1,361 
			      
			 2008 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 115,601 110,226 5,375 
			 2009 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 125,019 108,548 16,471 
			 2010 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 140,562 119,928 20,634 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 116,876 102,561 14,315 
			      
			 2008 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 960 916 44 
			 2009 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 675 469 206 
			 2010 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 607 471 136 
			 2011 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 735 646 89 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) Elsewhere: decisions on entry clearance visa applications by category (main applicants) 
			  Category Decisions Issued Refused 
			 2008 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 22,617 17,427 4,626 
			 2009 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 23,891 18,851 4,822 
			 2010 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 20,207 16,003 4,011 
			 2011 Tier 1 & pre-PBS equivalent 10,027 8,655 1,304 
			      
			 2008 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 58,260 55,837 1,895 
			 2009 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 40,646 36,287 3,928 
			 2010 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 43,133 39,923 2,995 
			 2011 Tier 2 & pre-PBS equivalent 39,760 38,062 1,462 
			      
			 2008 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 301,966 207,774 92,180 
			 2009 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 373,695 273,207 93,278 
			 2010 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 344,804 253,786 77,450 
			 2011 Tier 4 & pre-PBS equivalent 283,421 237,028 41,565 
			      
			 2008 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 67,215 40,998 25,197 
			 2009 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 42,762 36,318 5,875 
			 2010 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 39,349 36,540 2,430 
			 2011 Tier 5 & pre-PBS equivalent 39,116 36,622 1,963 
			 Source: Tables ex.01 and be.01, Immigration Statistics July-September 2012 
		
	
	The published data on decisions, grants and refusals of extensions of leave to remain and on grants and refusals of entry clearance visas, by tier of the PBS, is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, a copy of which is available from the Library of the House of Commons or from the Home Office's website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas were issued to Pakistani nationals in each of the last three years.

Mark Harper: There were 83,835, 96,455 and 124,818 entry clearance visas issued to Pakistani nationals (including dependants) in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas issued is published in the release ‘Immigration Statistics’, which is available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/
	A copy of the latest release, ‘Immigration Statistics July-September 2012’ has been placed in the House Library.

Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many specialist fraud officers there were in the police forces of England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The number of fraud officers (full-time equivalent) by police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five financial years can be seen from the following table.
	
		
			 Number of fraud officers, by police force area in England and Wales, as at 31 March 2008 to 2012 (1,2,3,4) 
			  As at 31 March: 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Avon and Somerset 8 7 12 13 13 
			 Bedfordshire 7 6 9 6 5 
			 Cambridgeshire 10 7 0 3 4 
			 Cheshire 13 3 8 8 18 
			 Cleveland 20 18 18 20 18 
			 Cumbria 3 3 2 5 6 
			 Derbyshire 13 12 11 15 15 
			 Devon and Cornwall 15 16 15 15 2 
			 Dorset 15 14 15 14J 6 
			 Durham 10 8 7 8 10 
			 Dyfed-Powys 3 2 5 4 3 
			 Essex 0 1 1 9 14 
			 Gloucestershire 10 10 8 8 0 
			 Greater Manchester 29 29 32 29 48 
			 Gwent 7 7 7 6 7 
		
	
	
		
			 Hampshire 1 1 4 6 13 
			 Hertfordshire 0 14 16 16 18 
			 Humberside 20 20 21 19 15 
			 Kent 7 7 7 8 6 
			 Lancashire 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Leicestershire 15 16 12 12 0 
			 Lincolnshire 4 3 2 2 2 
			 London, City of 78 89 98 109 136 
			 Merseyside 26 24 19 16 20 
			 Metropolitan Police 247 225 230 233 212 
			 Norfolk 11 8 9 8 11 
			 Northamptonshire 7 5 21 20 14 
			 Northumbria 14 16 22 16 14 
			 North Wales 2 2 2 1 2 
			 North Yorkshire 0 0 0 8 11 
			 Nottinghamshire 21 21 15 13 27 
			 South Wales 3 14 0 0 10 
			 South Yorkshire 14 12 4 5 5 
			 Staffordshire 10 10 7 5 9 
			 Suffolk 2 3 2 3 3 
			 Surrey 7 4 8 7 7 
			 Sussex 11 16 14 15 14 
			 Thames Valley 13 13 14 17 15 
			 Warwickshire 9 9 7 6 3 
			 West Mercia 10 9 5 7 0 
			 West Midlands 44 42 48 24 43 
			 West Yorkshire 46 32 27 21 25 
			 Wiltshire 5 4 5 9 8 
			 (1) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. (2) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (3) Fraud policing function is defined as staff who predominantly investigate fraud cases. Does not include staff who are predominantly employed in asset confiscation duties and includes those officers or staff in supporting roles. (4) Figures over time may be affected by organisational changes within forces. This may affect comparability over time and between forces.

G4S

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the status is of the G4S contract to re-house asylum seekers in private sector accommodation in Yorkshire.

Mark Harper: G4S were awarded the contract for the provision of accommodation and transport services for asylum applicants in June 2012. Since this time, there has been a period of transition during which asylum applicants have been moved from the previous housing provider to G4S accommodation. This transition completed on 4 December. All asylum applicants in the Yorkshire area are now accommodated by G4S.

Human Trafficking

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces in England and Wales have appointed a single point of contact for human trafficking cases.

Mark Harper: The Association of Chief Police Officers have identified single points of contact for each police region in England and Wales and is seeking to appoint single points of contact in each force area. To date, 34 forces have appointed a single point of contact for human trafficking cases.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to monitor the numbers of EU nationals entering into the UK and the purpose for which they have entered the UK.

Mark Harper: We monitor EU arrivals through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) International Passenger Survey (which provides the core data for the ONS estimates of Long-term International Migration as well as overall estimates of admissions). These are published quarterly on the ONS website and provide estimates for the numbers of migrants arriving and departing for work, study or to accompany/join another person. Data is also separately available on the large numbers of people who come to the UK as visitors.
	DWP also publish new registrations for National Insurance Numbers annually.
	While these will include short-term migrants who are not permanently resident, this data can be an indication of changes in numbers of foreign nationals coming to the UK principally to work.
	E-Borders is a Home Office programme designed to improve border security by screening travel document information (TDI) on people travelling to, and from, the UK. Although e-Borders is designed for border security purposes, the data collected also has the potential to deliver improvements to migration and population statistics.
	The most significant benefit would be to use e-Borders data to produce migrant counts. However, there are a number of potential issues and the feasibility of producing these will require further assessment. Reliable migration counts would also require virtually complete coverage and so this potential benefit is some years away. If feasible, these counts would not be available before 2018.

Interpol

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the governance of Interpol;
	(2)  how much the UK contributed to Interpol in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and how much is planned to be contributed in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.

James Brokenshire: The Government considers the governance structure of Interpol to be satisfactory. The Government is regularly consulted on the selection of senior appointments and is content with its ability to deliver a high quality service working with its member countries to support international police co-operation and tackle transnational crime.
	The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) hosts the UK National Central Bureau (NCB) for Interpol. SOCA made the following subscriptions to Interpol in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	
		
			 Financial year Subscription (£ million) 
			 2010-11 2.862 
			 2011-12 2.821 
		
	
	The estimated subscriptions for 2012-13 and 2013-14 are as follows.
	
		
			 Financial year Estimated subscription (£ million ) 
			 2012-13 2.681 
			 2013-14 2.710

Olympic Games 2012: Security

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had on the non-payment of contractors by G4S for London 2012 Olympic security.

James Brokenshire: No representations about non-payment of contractors by G4S for the London 2012 Games have been received by the Home Office. G4S's contract for security at Olympic and Paralympic venues was with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). However, I understand from G4S that they have settled claims from 16 sub-contractors and are in commercial negotiation with the remaining three.

Police

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account is taken of the popularity of a location as a tourist destination in the calculation of police numbers; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The size and composition of a police force's workforce are determined by the relevant chief officer and police and crime commissioner.

Police and Community Support Officers: Dorset

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many police community support officers there are in (a) Dorset Constabulary and (b) Bournemouth;
	(2)  how many police officers there were in (a) Dorset constabulary and (b) Bournemouth in each of the last 10 years.

Damian Green: The number of police officers within Dorset constabulary and Bournemouth as at 31 March 2003 to 2012 can be seen within the tables. Also shown in the second table is the number of police community support officers for the latest year figures were available for Dorset constabulary and Bournemouth (full-time equivalents).
	Figures at basic command unit level ceased to be collected from 2011-12 by the Home Office.
	
		
			 Number of police officers within Dorset constabulary and Bournemouth as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2012 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 
			 As at 31 March each year Dorset constabulary Bournemouth 
			 2003 1,422 318 
			 2004 1,453 322 
			 2005 1,475 317 
			 2006 1,512 319 
			 2007 1,526 315 
			 2008 1,518 317 
			 2009 1,512 506 
			 2010 1,486 481 
			 2011 1,452 — 
			 2012 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of police community support officers within Dorset constabulary and Bournemouth and Poole as at 31 March 2010 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 
			 As at 31 March each year Dorset constabulary Bournemouth and Poole 
			 2010 164 79 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) As at 31 March 2011 Dorset constabulary was restructured and basic command units redefined part way through the period, as a result this data is not available. (4) Figures at basic command unit level ceased to be collected from 2011-12 following Lord Wasserman's assessment. (5) As at 31 March 2009, the basic command units Bournemouth and Poole merged.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her Department's policy to allow candidates freepost deliveries in future elections for police and crime commissioners.

Damian Green: holding answer 26 November 2012
	There is no such thing as a free mailshot—to send information, as is the case in general elections, would cost over £30 million of taxpayers’ money. Information about every candidate was published online and delivered free of charge to the hundreds of thousands of people who requested it in hard copy.
	The Government awaits the publication of the Electoral Commission's report in February 2013 to inform decisions about future elections.

Police and Crime Commissioners

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police and crime commissioners she met on 3 December 2012; whether travel expenses were reimbursed following attendance at this meeting; and what the total amount was of any such expenses paid.

Damian Green: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and her ministerial team met 39 of the 41 police and crime commissioners (PCCs) on 3 December. The PCCs for Cambridgeshire and Surrey were unable to attend. The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in London and the Chair of the City of London's Common Council Police Committee also attended. The Home Office did not pay expenses to PCCs who attended the day.

Police and Crime Commissioners: Fire Services

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to merging the role of fire authorities with that of police and crime commissioners for the purposes of achieving better integration.

Damian Green: Given the broad remit and powers of police and crime commissioners, and in light of the fact that they have only very recently assumed office, no further consideration has been given to extending their role to encompass fire authority responsibilities.

Police Stations

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations were open and operated by police forces in England for each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The requested information is not collected by the Home Office.

Police: Convictions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) police civilian staff in each police force have a (i) criminal conviction, (ii) conviction for a violent offence and (iii) conviction for an offence of dishonesty.

Damian Green: This information is not collected by the Home Office. Guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers states that police forces should not recruit people with convictions which may call into question the integrity of the applicant or the police. Police officers who are convicted of a criminal offence can face disciplinary action including dismissal. Action in each individual case is the responsibility of the relevant chief constable and the police and crime commissioner.

Police: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours of police time have been spent leading prosecutions in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not collect this information,

Police: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal prosecutions have been led by police officers in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: Figures on the numbers of police led prosecutions are not collated centrally, but it is estimated that around 310,000 minor road traffic cases each year are dealt with by police forces as specified proceedings. If is up to police forces whether such cases are dealt with by a police officer or a civilian member of police staff.

Police: Training

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what basic training is given to new recruits to police forces in England and Wales; and at what locations such training takes place.

Damian Green: Newly recruited police officers undergo a two year programme known as the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP). The College of Policing, on behalf of police forces in England and Wales, manages the national regulatory framework and a quality assurance monitoring system of the IPLDP.
	Training is carried out locally by forces.

Respirex

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Respirex International Limited will receive a substantive reply from the National Post Seizure Unit of the UK Border Force based at Plymouth to their email of 14.57 hours on 25 October 2012 and follow-up emails with reference to consignment reference CPT 345/12 and Export Licence Reference MBW-227703.

Mark Harper: holding answer 22 November 2012
	The National Post Seizure Unit provided a detailed reply to Respirex on 12 November 2012 confirming that the consignment would be released on payment of a restoration fee. The payment was confirmed on 19 November 2012. Due process was followed and decisions provided within agreed timelines.

Riot Damages Act 1886

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has any plans to reform the Riot Damages Act 1886.

Damian Green: We are currently reviewing the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 to ensure that it reflects the requirements of today's modern policing world. We plan to commission an independent review and further details will be announced early in 2013. The results from this independent review will be used to shape any possible future public consultation.

Riot Damages Act 1886

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on initiating an independent review of the Riot Damages Act 1886; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: There have been no representations received seeking an independent review of the Riot (Damages) Act 1886. Ministers took the decision to commission an independent review and an announcement is expected in the new year.

Social Services: Cambridgeshire

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the effect of the removal of care staff from the Shortage Occupation List on care services in Cambridgeshire.

Mark Harper: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Care workers were removed from the Shortage Occupation List used in connection with the admission of skilled workers from outside the EEA under Tier 2 of the Points Based System. This action was taken on the advice of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in its report of March 2011, which found that this occupation did not meet the National Qualifications Framework Level 4 skills threshold applied to Tier 2 and concluded that labour shortages in the sector would have to be addressed through other means. This threshold has since been raised to National Qualifications Framework Level 6, and the Home Office has no plans to invite the MAC to specifically consider the re-inclusion of this occupation on the list.

Telephone Services

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely cost of her Department’s 0800 1070708 telephone number for the period since its commencement to 16 November 2012.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 8 November 2012
	The final cost of the 0800 1070708 telephone number was £73,384.05 which covers the period 5 October up until 4 pm on 14 November.
	This figure is exclusive of VAT but includes initial set up and development of the service, call charges, costs for call handling and transcription of messages left via the automated orderline.

UK Border Agency

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the UK Border Agency's target time is to (a) complete an investigation of missing documents and (b) inform the applicant of the outcome.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency does not have a general process or target time for investigating missing documents and informing the applicant of the outcome. However, if a customer makes a complaint about a missing document the target time to respond to them is 95% within 20 working days.

UK Border Agency

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) budget and (b) staffing level of the UK Border Agency was in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012; and what its (A) planned budget and (B) projected staffing level is for 2013.

Mark Harper: The (a) budgets and (b) staffing levels for the UK Border Agency for each financial year from 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 are detailed in the annual reports that can be found on the Home Office website via the following link.
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/annual-reports-accounts/
	
		
			 UK Border Agency average staffing for each financial year (excludes Border Force) 
			 Total 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Directly employed 13,086 12,902 11,583 
			 Other 2,654 2,206 2,058 
		
	
	
		
			 Staff engaged on capital projects 141 126 121 
			 Total 15,880 15,234 13,762 
		
	
	The total average staffing number for 2011-12 in the annual report for that period was adjusted to 14,112 to take account of approximately 350 case-working staff working in Border Force on UK Border Agency casework.
	The UK Border Agency's (A) planned budget and (B) projected staffing level for 2013-14 are currently being agreed as part of the annual planning round with the Home Office and are not yet available.

UK Border Agency

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers with the power of arrest have been employed by UKBA in (a) the latest financial year and (b) the previous three financial years.

Mark Harper: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Management information indicates that there are approximately 1,150 arrest trained officers in the UK Border Agency's (UKBA's) Crime and Enforcement Group. Accurate comparative data for previous financial years is not available.

WALES

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  which EU directives his Department transposed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which EU directives his Department expects to transpose in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such directive to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector;
	(2)  which regulations his Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations his Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

David Jones: None. In order to increase transparency, in the forthcoming Statement of New Regulation (SNR5) the Government will, for the first time, be publishing those new European Union (EU) measures which are being implemented in UK law and have a direct effect on business.

Migration

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of levels of migration (a) from Scotland, England and Northern Ireland to Wales and (b) from Wales to Scotland, England and Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

David Jones: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), on 12 December 2012, Official Report, columns 378-80W.
	No assessment of these figures has been undertaken.

SCOTLAND

Battle of Flodden: Anniversaries

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Flodden in 2013.

Michael Moore: The Scotland Office has no plans to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the battle of Flodden in 2013. In my capacity as Member of Parliament for the adjacent constituency, from which many of the Scots soldiers were drawn, I will be participating in a series of engagements to commemorate the battle.

Visits Abroad

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what overseas travel (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have undertaken since taking office; what the destination and purpose of each such visit was; and what the total cost to his Department was of all such overseas travel.

Michael Moore: Since taking office, the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell), and I have undertaken the following international visits:
	
		
			 Trip Minister and group Purpose Total cost (£) 
			 USA: 3 to 9 April 2011 David Mundell Attend Tartan Week events and promote Scottish businesses 2,685.71 
			 Brussels: 14 to 15 June 2011 Michael Moore (plus 2) Meetings with European Commission, MEPs and businesses 841.19 
			 Brazil: 26 November to 1 December 2011 Michael Moore (plus 2) Lead Scottish trade delegation, meeting businesses, Brazilian Government and others 22,844.98 
			 Vatican City: 14 to 15 February 2012 Michael Moore (plus 1) UK Government delegation to the Vatican 1,166.80 
			 USA: 9 to 14 April 2012 David Mundell (plus 1) Supporting Scotland Week, a UKTI trade delegation and promoting Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises 12,657.44 
			 Brussels: 5 to 6 December 2012 Michael Moore (plus 2) Meetings with European Commission, MEPs and businesses (1)— 
			 USA/Canada: 9 to 12 December 2012 Michael Moore (plus 3) To promote trade and meet with companies with an interest in Scotland and the UK, and to carry out other Government business (1)— 
			 (1) Costs being finalised.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General how many full-time equivalent staff were employed on consultancy contracts of the Law Officers' Departments on the latest date for which figures are available; how many such staff were employed on the same date 12 months ago; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a consultancy contract with one individual as at 30 November 2012. The contract is for approximately 20 days work between the periods 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2013. No staff had been employed on a consultancy contract on 30 November 2011.
	As at 31 October the Serious Fraud Office was not employing any staff on consultancy contracts. In October 2011, a full-time equivalent of 2.3 staff were employed on a consultancy basis.
	The remaining Law Officers' Departments do not currently employ anyone on a consultancy contract and the same position applied as at 31 October 2011.

Corporate Manslaughter

Paul Burstow: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases for potential prosecution of offences under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by (a) police forces and (b) the Health and Safety Executive since the commencement of the Act.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has four Casework Divisions, one of which is the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division (SCCTD). Cases involving suspected corporate manslaughter are referred to the Special Crime unit within SCCTD, unless the suspect is an unincorporated partnership, as these cases will be referred to a Complex Casework Unit. The number of cases referred to SCCTD and recorded as being “corporate manslaughter” since the commencement of the Act is 141. The CPS does not hold this data broken down by referring agency. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 does not apply to pre-Act deaths, thus some cases may have been recorded as gross negligence manslaughter rather than corporate manslaughter. The CPS figures are based on a single categorisation of the case type and so, some cases that include a corporate manslaughter element will not necessarily be recorded as a case of that type.

Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what conviction rates have been secured by the Crown Prosecution Service for fraud in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provide an analysis of the outcome of proceedings, divided into 12 principal offence categories indicating the most serious offence with which the defendant was charged at the time of finalisation. The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the conviction rates for defendants whose principal offence was fraud and forgery.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 2007-08 89.7 
			 2008-09 90.0 
			 2009-10 87.9 
			 2010-11 87.1 
			 2011-12 86.2 
		
	
	As well as offences of fraud, the conviction rate figures include bankruptcy offences, forgery and counterfeiting, and fraud and forgery associated with vehicle or driver records. The figures represent all convictions for fraud and forgery handled by the 13 areas of the CPS and, from April 2010, cases prosecuted by the specialist Central Fraud Division established following the merger of the CPS’s Fraud Prosecution Division with the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office.

Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what conviction rates were secured by the Crown Prosecution Service for frauds worth (a) between £10,000 and £100,000, (b) between £100,000 and £500,000, (c) between £500,000 and £1 million and (d) more than £1 million in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service maintains no central record of the values of frauds prosecuted. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by undertaking a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files at a disproportionate cost.

Plymouth Brethren

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Attorney-General if he will recommend that appeals by the Plymouth Brethren be heard in the Upper Tribunal.

Dominic Grieve: I have considered joining as a party to the current appeals to the Charity Tribunal relating to the registration of Brethren meeting halls. I have decided that, at this stage, it is not necessary for me to do so. The appropriate forum for the appeal is therefore a question for the tribunal. I will be keeping my position under review as the case progresses.

Plymouth Brethren

Matthew Offord: To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received on the charitable status of the Plymouth Brethren; and what response has been given.

Dominic Grieve: As of 14 December 2012 I have received papers relating to an ongoing appeal to the Charity Tribunal, 28 letters from Members of Parliament and four letters from members of the public. I have responded informing correspondents that I have considered joining as a party to the ongoing appeal and have decided that, at this stage, it is not necessary for me to do so. I will, however, be keeping that position under review as the case progresses.

Proceeds of Crime

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how much of its annual budget the Crown Prosecution Service spends on tracing and recovering the proceeds of crime.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has allocated £15,400,000 of its annual budget, in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, to tracing and recovering the proceeds of crime.

Prosecutions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, columns 18-9W, on the Crown Prosecution Service, how many prosecutions were launched by the Crown Prosecution Service's (a) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, (b) Organised Crime Division, (c) Welfare, Rural and Health Division and (d) Central Fraud Group in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 (A) in total and (B) in each region of England; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald: The information requested is as follows. Due to the specialised nature of the cases dealt with by these divisions, expertise is centred in specific locations and so a breakdown by geographic region is not available. Figures for offices located outside of London are provided where available.
	(a) The Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division was set up on 4 April 2011 and merges the formerly separate Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Divisions. The Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division commenced the following number of prosecutions in England in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 Special Crime London 61 32 
			 Special Crime York 62 131 
			 Counter Terrorism London 58 74 
			 Total 181 237 
		
	
	(b) The CPS Organised Crime Division (OCD) was set up in 2005 in order to provide a one-stop shop for investigators from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and its affiliate, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). OCD has offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester and York. OCD commenced the following number of prosecutions in England in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 OCD London 304 387 
			 OCO Birmingham 110 130 
			 OCD Manchester 272 165 
			 OCD York 134 48 
			 Total 820 730 
		
	
	(c) The Welfare, Rural and Health Division (WRHD) was set up in its present form on 1 April 2012 following the merger of the prosecution function of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with the already established Welfare, Rural and Health Division dealing with prosecutions from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). WRHD has been responsible from April 2012 for prosecuting certain types of crime on behalf of the DWP, the Department of Health and some local authorities.
	Cases prosecuted on behalf of the Department of Health (DH) are brought forward by NHS Protect or the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
	As WRHD was created in its present form on 1 April 2012 it did not commence any prosecutions in 2010-11 or 2011-12, but instead inherited cases that had been commenced by other authorities and units. On 1 April 2012, it took on responsibility for 3,706 prosecutions as detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  2011-12 
			 DEFRA 57 
			 DWP Birmingham 1,059 
			 DWP Cardiff 884 
			 DWP Leeds 519 
			 DWP Liverpool 713 
			 DWP London 459 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) 15 
			 Total 3,706 
		
	
	(d) The Central Fraud Group (CFG) was set up within the CPS in April 2010 to provide a specialist prosecution and advisory service for complex, sensitive and high value fraud cases throughout England and Wales, and for all fiscal fraud and export control cases investigated by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. CFG commenced the following number of prosecutions in England and Wales in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 CFG North 267 485 
			 CFG South 523 598 
			 Total 790 1,083

Serious Fraud Office

Mike Wood: To ask the Attorney-General how many staff are employed by the Serious Fraud Office; and of these, how many are (a) senior civil servants and (b) special advisers.

Oliver Heald: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not employ any special advisers. As of 30 November there was a full-time equivalent (FTE) of 297.39 staff employed at the SFO, of which a FTE of 11.56 were senior civil servants.

Serious Fraud Office

Mike Wood: To ask the Attorney-General how many investigators are employed in the Serious Fraud Office.

Oliver Heald: As of 30 November there was a full-time equivalent of 116.09 investigators employed at the Serious Fraud Office.

Serious Fraud Office

Mike Wood: To ask the Attorney-General how much was spent on the away day for senior civil servants in the Serious Fraud Office held between 17 and 19 October 2012.

Dominic Grieve: The cost of the event was £5,090 plus VAT.

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what investigations have been carried out into the Serious Fraud Office’s use of consultants since 2010; if he will place in the Library the findings of any such investigations; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: There has been one such investigation during this time period. Sir Alex Allan was asked by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, to review the SFO’s use of consultants in autumn 2011 and he reported back in November 2011. This review was commissioned following a number of allegations made by some members of staff. Sir Alex Allan interviewed and collected evidence from those who made the allegations, from the SFO’s senior management team, from the non-executive directors and from a number of outside bodies including the National Audit Office and Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group.
	He found no evidence of improper conduct in respect to the processes by which consultancy contracts were awarded, but identified that there was a lack of documentation for some decisions, and different processes for handling consultancy contracts and other contracts. He recommended that all payments to consulting firms, whether for consultancy or for interim managers, are aggregated and treated as part of a single, continuing contract.
	I would like to publish the findings of Sir Alex’s report in full and am currently considering any legal reasons as to why that may not be possible.

Sexual Offences

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what the Crown Prosecution Service’s conviction rate for crimes committed under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted. It is not possible to ascertain the number of convictions obtained without examining individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
	CPS collects information about the number of defendants prosecuted for rape: offences contrary to sections 1 and 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, sections 1, 5 and 30(3) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and attempts, incitement or conspiracy to commit the above offences.
	The percentage of convictions of such defendants is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 2007-08 57.7 
			 2008-09 57.7 
			 2009-10 59.4 
			 2010-11 58.6 
			 2011-12 62.5

Sexual Offences

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has conducted under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the number of offences charged under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Rape).
	
		
			  Number 
			 2007-08 3,357 
			 2008-09 3,499 
			 2009-10 4,106 
			 2010-11 4,555 
			 2011-12 4,218

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Environment Protection: Telecommunications

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on the potential effect of communications infrastructure on National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), is meeting regularly with the Secretaries of State for Culture Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), and Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), and other key ministerial colleagues to discuss issues relating to broadband and mobile provision. This includes the interests of national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty in the rollout programme. Furthermore, on 13 November, I met with the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), to discuss broadband and mobile coverage and the impacts in all rural communities, including in protected areas.

Fish: Solent

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons his Department has not provided funding to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science for the continuation of the annual Solent bass surveys.

Richard Benyon: The coalition Government’s first priority is to reduce the public sector deficit and so we are looking at all options that would ensure the continued delivery of essential services within a reduced budget from Government.
	Consequently DEFRA officials have had to make a number of difficult decisions on the continuation of funding for various projects, including the Solent bass survey, based on prioritisation of where scientific research and development is needed the most, value for money and whether the projects are a requirement of our wider UK, EU and global commitments.

Fisheries: Atlantic Ocean

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect deep-sea fish stocks in the North East Atlantic.

Richard Benyon: In November, EU Ministers reached political agreement on fishing opportunities for certain deep-sea stocks for 2013 and 2014. This included continuing zero total allowable catches (TACs) for particularly vulnerable species such as deep-sea sharks and orange roughy, thus making it clear that these species are not to be targeted.
	Earlier this year, the Commission issued a proposal to update the current EU deep sea access regime and this includes setting limits on the number of vessels that can target deep-sea fish. DEFRA fully supports the key objectives that underpin this proposal and anticipates contributing to the development of this dossier when active consideration begins under the Irish presidency in 2013.
	In addition the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science continues to provide advice on deep-sea issues and is a key partner in the EU project DEEPFISHMAN, which is due to report this year. This project aims to develop a monitoring and management framework for deepwater fisheries in the NE Atlantic.

Humber Estuary

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flood defence schemes in the Humber Strategy have (a) secure external funding and (b) funding from non-public sector sources.

Richard Benyon: The Humber Flood Risk Management Strategy includes nine flood risk management schemes which have either been delivered or are in progress. Eight schemes have been fully funded using flood defence grant in aid through the Environment Agency and one £5.5 million scheme delivered in Brough received £1.95 million external funding contributions from BAE Systems.

Primates: Conservation

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what work is being done internationally to (a) stop the hunting of mountain gorillas, (b) help support the training of rangers to detect and safely remove snares and (c) help protect vital gorilla habitat.

Richard Benyon: A wide variety of international conservation activities are ongoing to help ensure the long-term survival of the gorilla. These include through the auspices of international fora such as the agreement on the conservation of gorillas and their habitats, the convention on the conservation of migratory species, the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES). Work is also being carried out by gorilla range states, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations, research institutions and other supporters of gorilla conservation.
	In the UK, we focus our efforts to conserve great apes, including gorillas, through GRASP and CITES. GRASP aims to lift the threat of extinction faced by gorillas and other great apes. The UK is a staunch supporter of the partnership, and recently contributed £100,000 to fund its second Council meeting. By bringing together range states and other key stakeholders, the meeting reenergised international effort to conserve great apes.
	Through CITES, of which the UK is a party, international, commercial trade in gorillas is prohibited apart from in exceptional circumstances. Under CITES, a number of initiatives are being taken to tackle the problem of illegal trade in gorillas and other great apes, for example technical missions by the CITES secretariat to gorilla range states (Uganda, Cameroon and Gabon) to review the implementation and enforcement of CITES controls and the protection of great ape habitats.
	We are also working with other EU member states to tackle the trade in illegal timber, which destroys habitats and threatens species. This includes bilateral agreements with African countries including Cameroon, Republic of Congo and Central African Republic to develop their legality systems, and a broader regulation, the EU timber regulation, which addresses all timber imports.

Salmon: Northumberland

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the future of coastal salmon fisheries in Northumberland; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: I have recently reviewed the future of Northumberland salmon fisheries as part of new legislation limiting net fishing for salmon and sea trout along the north-east coast.
	The north-east coast fishery exploits salmon and sea trout from several rivers, thus making it difficult to protect the weakest river stocks. We have been progressively phasing out fisheries such as these and such a phase out already applies to the drift nets operating on the north-east coast. A phase out will now also apply to the T & J net fishery.
	I have instructed the Environment Agency to close the north-east coast drift net fishery in September 2022. Until then currently-licensed netsmen will still be able to fish but no new netsmen will be licensed.
	I have also instructed the Environment Agency to review the Net Limitation Order in five years and evaluate the potential for maintaining net fishing for salmon and sea trout in the region, other than with drift nets, if stock levels allow and if it can be demonstrated to be consistent with national policy and international guidance.

Water: Pollution Control

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the potential additional cost to household water bills of the EU Commission's proposals to add estradiol, ethinylestradiol and diclofenac to the priority substances list.

Richard Benyon: In January 2012, the European Commission published a proposal that would set environmental quality standards for a number of substances, including estradiol (naturally excreted by humans and animals as well as being used as a medicine), ethinylestradiol (used in the birth control pill) and diclofenac (an anti-inflammatory commonly used to treat conditions such as arthritis).
	The Commission estimated costs for meeting the standard for estradiol to be €18/head/year (about £15/head/year) for wastewater treatment in the UK, totalling €20billion (about £16 billion) over 20 years. The Environment Agency undertook more detailed modelling and estimates it will cost about £27 billion to £31 billion over 20 years to treat wastewaters so that surface waters in England and Wales meet the required standard for ethinylestradiol and estradiol.
	The breakdown of costs by water bill payer has yet to be established by the Government. The Commission's proposal is still under negotiation and so standards are yet to be agreed. Meanwhile, detailed consideration of local conditions will be needed to assess where and when advanced wastewater treatment should be implemented. These considerations can be incorporated into existing investment planning cycles.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Regional Planning and Development

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent estimate he has made of the cost of establishing the Cities Policy Unit; and what estimate he has made of the likely annual cost of running the unit.

Nicholas Clegg: The Cities Policy Unit was established in August 2011 and is part of the Political and Constitution Reform Group within the Cabinet Office.
	The Cabinet Office publishes Annual Reports and Accounts which outline the costs of Cabinet Office Departments. The costs associated with the Political and Constitution Reform Group can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts 2011/12 (HC56) on page 91.

JUSTICE

Administration of Justice: Expenditure

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what capital expenditure there was since 2007 in all (a) prisons and (b) courts closed since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The details of capital expenditure since 2007 in all prisons and courts closed since May 2010 are given in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Type of capital expenditure Prisons Courts 
			 Major capital costs 15.6 10.4 
			 Local capital acquisitions 0.5 0.9 
			 Total 16.1 11.3

Charities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding his Department allocated to (a) Centrepoint, (b) Crisis, (c) Skill Force and (d) Shelter in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Department's funding allocation to Crisis and Shelter is given in the following table.
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Organisation 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Crisis 0 0.020 0 
			 Shelter 0.621 1.055 (1)1.176 
			 (1 )Year-to-date position. 
		
	
	No funding was given to Centrepoint and Skill Force in the last three years.

Companies: Prosecutions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out the statutes under which a corporate entity would be liable to prosecution in criminal law for neglect or abuse of a vulnerable person; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: In accordance with the Interpretation Act 1978 a body corporate or unincorporate can commit any offence which applies to a “person” unless the contrary intention appears. Where a corporate body cannot commit the offence as principal, it may still be liable as a secondary participant depending on the circumstances.
	In extreme cases which result in death an organisation can be found guilty of the offence under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care to the deceased.

Credit Cards

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent by officials in his Department on Government-issued credit cards in the last six months.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice does not use credit cards so has no recorded spend against them.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the recipients of an award under the Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme resident in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) outside the UK also received an award for compensation for loss of earnings in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12, by each tariff band of the scheme; and what the total amount received as compensation for loss of earnings was by recipients in each of those tariff bands.

Helen Grant: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) only holds information about applicants' residency in individual files, and so could compile the answer only at disproportionate cost. They can, however, provide a close approximation by giving figures based on which police force was investigating the incidents that gave rise to claims.
	I have placed figures in the Library of the House showing how many awards were paid in each tariff band in each of the specified years, broken down by the police force from which CICA received a report about the incident giving rise to the claim. No figures are available for outside the UK because CICA only compensates for injuries sustained in, and attributable to a crime that took place in, Great Britain.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 1 November 2012, Official Report, Seventh Delegated Legislation Committee, column 6, 
	(1)  which organisations will be able to assist victims of crime in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales in making an application to the hardship fund;
	(2)  whether victims of crime resident in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales will be eligible to make applications to the hardship fund.

Helen Grant: Victims of crime who sustained an injury in England and Wales on or after 27 November 2012 and who meet the other eligibility criteria are able to make applications to the hardship fund.
	The hardship fund is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority following the referral of an application based on an initial assessment of eligibility by Victim Support.
	The hardship fund does not cover victims of crime who sustained an injury in Scotland.

Debt Collection

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when his Department plans to publish the results of the Transforming Bailiff Action consultation launched in February 2012.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice is currently finalising the Government response to this consultation paper and will issue this in due course.

European Court of Human Rights

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average delay is between the first petition and final judgment for cases before the European Court of Human Rights in the last 30 years; and what the longest such delay was.

Damian Green: Information published on the Court's website states that between 1959 and the end of 2011 it delivered 14,854 judgments. Information on the length of time it took between the initial application and the final judgment, including the longest such delay, is not available to the Government.

Freedom of Information

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require that a person making a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 be identified.

Helen Grant: Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) requires that an applicant provides their name when making a request under the Act. The future direction of policy in relation to the Act is made clear in the Government's response to post legislative scrutiny published on 30 November 2012. We do not intend to bring forward legislative proposals to require any further identification of applicants.

Information Officers

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent press office staff his Department employs; and how many such staff were employed in April 2010.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice press office operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, dealing with all media relations for the Department, including the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), from the international, national, regional, local and specialist media.
	As at 30 October 2012, there were 31 (full-time equivalent) press officers in the Ministry's press office and four vacant posts. Additionally there were three (full-time equivalent) press officers in HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
	As at 30 April 2010, there were 40 (full-time equivalent) press officers in the Ministry's press office and two vacant posts. There were also two (full-time equivalent) press officers working across HM Courts Service and the Tribunals Service and two vacant posts. (HM Courts and Tribunals Service was created on 1 April 2011 by combining Her Majesty's Courts Service and the Tribunals Service.)

Judiciary

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what proportion of the judiciary in England and Wales were male in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012;
	(2)  what proportion of the judiciary were (a) white British, (b) black Caribbean, (c) black African, (d) Pakistani, (e) Indian, (f) Bangladeshi and (g) of another ethnicity in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012;
	(3)  what proportion of the judiciary were (a) Christian, (b) Muslim, (c) Jewish, (d) Hindu, (e) Sikh, (f) of no faith and (g) of another faith in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012.

Helen Grant: The data on the gender and ethnicity of the Judiciary are held and published by the Judicial Office. These data are available at:
	for 2012:
	http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/diversity-stats-and-gen-overview
	from 2001 to 2011:
	http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/diversity-stats-and-gen-overview/archived-diversity-stats
	The data available for the period between 2001 and 2006 only include the percentage of women judges and the percentage of those from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. As such, the only available series for both the gender and ethnicity of judges since 1998 is that presented in table 1. Data from 2007 onwards include the gender breakdown and the five point self-identified ethnicity classification.
	
		
			 Percentage of judges by gender and ethnicity 
			 Table 1: Percentage of women judges and judges from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), 1998 to 2012 
			  Total number of judges Women (percentage) Percentage BAME out of known ethnicity (1) Percentage BAME out of total number of judges 
			 1998 3,174 10.3 n/a 1.6 
			 1999 3,312 11.2 n/a 1.7 
			 2000 3,441 12.7 n/a 2.1 
			 2001 3,535 14.1 n/a 1.9 
			 2002 3,545 14.5 n/a 2.0 
			 2003 3,656 14.9 n/a 2.2 
			 2004 3,675 15.8 n/a 2.5 
			 2005 3,794 16.9 n/a 2.9 
			 2006 3,774 18.0 n/a 3.8 
			 2007 3,545 18.7 n/a 3.5 
			 2008 3,820 19.0 5.0 4.1 
			 2009 3,602 19.4 4.5 3.6 
			 2010 3,598 20.6 4.8 3.9 
			 2011 3,694 22.3 5.1 4.2 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 3,575 22.6 5.2 4.2 
			 n/a = not available (1) The black and minority ethnic figure is calculated as a percentage of those members of the judiciary who provided ethnicity data. Notes: 1. The database of the ethnic origin of the judiciary may be incomplete as (a) candidates are asked to provide the information on a voluntary basis and (b) such details have only been collected since October 1991. Further ethnicity data were collected from judiciary in post through a diversity survey undertaken by the Judicial Office in 2007. In May 2009 the Judicial Office began collecting ethnicity data from all new judicial appointees with the help of Ministry of Justice. 2. Figures from 2008 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years as the data have been widened to include four new types of judicial post. Source: Historical data from Judicial Office website and archived website of the Department for Constitutional Affairs http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/diversity-stats-and-gen-overview http://www.dca.gov.uk/dept/depstrat.htm 
		
	
	Information on the religion of the Judiciary is not routinely collected by the Judicial Office.

Litter

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) charged, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for dropping litter in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for littering offences in England and Wales, from 2009-10 to 2010-11 by financial year, can be viewed in the following table.
	Charging data are not collected by the Ministry of Justice.
	Annual court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013.
	
		
			 Persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for littering offences (1) , England and Wales, by financial year 2009-11 (2, 3) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 Proceeded against 4,784 4,796 
			 Found guilty 3,758 3,777 
			 (1) An offence under s. 87, 93, 94, 94(8)(9) Environmental Protection Act 1990, as substituted by s. 21 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. (2) The figures given relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Lost Property

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many laptops issued to members of his Department have been reported lost in the last six months; and what the cost to the public purse was of such incidents;
	(2)  how many memory sticks issued to members of his Department have been reported lost in the last six months; and what the cost to the public purse was of such incidents.

Jeremy Wright: Members of the Ministry of Justice have reported the loss of 23 laptops and three memory sticks for the two latest quarters of 2012-13 (April to September 2012). The costs of these losses fall into the monthly service management costs, and are not reported separately.
	All Ministry of Justice laptops are encrypted and protected with a complex password. The Ministry also implements security incident management procedures to ensure that the impacts of incidents are risk managed and investigations are undertaken to seek, where possible, to retrieve lost/stolen assets.
	The Ministry adopts government security policy framework requirements to securely protect its assets.
	Clear processes are in place for notification of any loss, including reporting it to the police. The compliance of staff with policy and guidance is a line management responsibility, and in the event of any breach, disciplinary action may be taken. Specific sanction is applied to the removal of unencrypted laptops or other official IT equipment containing personal or protectively-marked data from a secure location and in the event of this occurring disciplinary action will be taken which may result in dismissal.

Magistrates

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of magistrates in England and Wales 
	(1)  were male in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012;
	(2)  were (a) white British, (b) black Caribbean, (c) black African, (d) Pakistani, (e) Indian, (f) Bangladeshi and (g) of another ethnicity in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012;
	(3)  were (a) Christian, (b) Muslim, (c) Jewish, (d) Hindu, (e) Sikh, (f) of no faith and (g) of another faith in each year from 1 April 1997 to 2012.

Helen Grant: The data on the gender and ethnicity of the magistracy is held and published by the Judicial Office. Data for 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012 can be found at
	http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications-and-reports/statistics/magistrates-statistics
	The Judicial Office also provides data on gender and ethnicity for inclusion, respectively, in the Ministry of Justice's publications "Statistics and Women and the Criminal Justice System" and "Statistics and Race and the Criminal Justice System". The most recent editions of these publications include data for the most recent five years available at the time of publication (2008 to 2012 for gender, and 2007 to 2011 for ethnicity). These can be found at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/women
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/race
	Combining these data sources, Table 1 as follows presents the breakdown of magistrates by gender, 2008 to 2012, as at 31 March.
	
		
			 Table 1: Percentage of magistrates by gender, 31 March 2008 to 2012 
			  Women (percentage) Men (percentage) Total (number) 
			 2008 50.1 49.9 29,419 
			 2009 50.6 49.4 29,270 
			 2010 50.8 49.2 28,607 
			 2011 51.1 48.9 26,966 
			 2012 51.3 48.7 25,170 
		
	
	Table 2 as follows presents the breakdown of magistrates by self-identified ethnicity (five point classification), 2007 to 2012, as at 31 March.
	
		
			 Table 2: Percentage of magistrates by self identified ethnicity, 31 March 2007 to 2012 
			  White (%) Mixed (%) Asian (%) Black (%) Chinese or other (%) Not stated (%) Total (number) 
			 2007 93.0 0.4 2.3 3.7 0.6 0.1 29,816 
			 2008 92.7 0.4 2.4 3.8 0.7 0.0 29,419 
			 2009 92.4 0.5 2.5 3.9 0.7 0.0 29,270 
			 2010 92.3 0.5 2.5 3.9 0.7 0.0 28,607 
			 2011 92.0 0.5 2.7 4.1 0.8 0.0 26,966 
			 2012 91.9 0.5 2.6 4.1 0.8 0.0 25,170 
		
	
	There is limited information available for some years on the gender and ethnicity of magistrates before 2008 and 2007, respectively. Please note that that comparisons across the years must be done with care, as some measures and definitions may have changed through time. This information can be found in the archived editions of “Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System” and “Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System”:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110109132045/http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/womencriminaljusticesystem-archive.htm
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/raceandcjs-archive.htm
	Reports prior to 2007 were published by the Home Office and can be found here:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110204191850/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/section951.html
	Information on the religion of magistrates is currently not collected by the Judicial Office.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what evidence his Department has that competition in offender services can lead to (a) greater efficiency and (b) greater value for money.

Jeremy Wright: Competition for offender services has been shown to have significant benefits and has delivered both greater efficiency and greater value for money.
	Prison Competition Phase 1 has driven efficiencies in the prisons which were competed. Contracts for Birmingham, Doncaster and Buckley Hall are forecast to save over £200 million relative to previous spend over the life of the contracts: a 16% saving against previous spend. The competition also secured better value as result of the public sector winning HMP Buckley Hall where there was a significant improvement in delivery requirements from the public sector.
	Significant savings are expected from Prison Competition Phase 2 which is still under way. We announced to the House on 8 November that we will reduce costs without compromising public safety across the whole system to improve outcomes and deliver value for money by setting a new benchmark for running prisons which we will now apply to all public sector prisons in order to maximise savings over the next two spending review periods. This approach flows directly from the competition and enables us to utilise the market to drive down costs and provides the potential to rapidly expand the payment-by-results approach to improve rehabilitation outcomes. We estimate an additional £450 million savings will be generated over the next six years by applying this new public sector benchmark and by competing ancillary and through-the-gate resettlement services across all public sector prisons.
	There is also evidence of how the benefits can be applied to non-custodial services.
	The recent competition for community payback in London resulted in a winning bid that delivers substantial savings to the taxpayer of £25 million (37%) over the life of the four-year contract working closely with a range of providers to deliver the service, including London Probation Trust.
	We are currently running a competition for Electronic Monitoring. Previous competitions have seen financial benefits. In 2004-05, the Home Office spent £102.3 million on the electronic monitoring of curfews. The contracts let in 2005 made an average saving of £950 per subject monitored which equated to a reduction of 40% on the 2004-05 expenditure (£40.92 million). The Department has since negotiated further cost reductions with the contractors of: £3.6 million in 2009-10; £4.8 million in 2010-11; and £5.5 million in 2011-12. The increase in the overall cost of electronic monitoring, setting aside inflation, is attributable to volume increases.
	We will be setting out plans shortly for how we intend to apply competition more broadly to non-custodial offender services.

Official Hospitality

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent for hospitality purposes on (a) Champagne, (b) wines, (c) spirits, (d) soft drinks, (e) flowers, (f) laundry, (g) porterage, (h) china, (i) cutlery and (j) venue hire since May 2010.

Helen Grant: The Department does not hold central records for expenditure on hospitality. Our accounting systems do not identify separate expenditure on items of hospitality. To obtain information on departmental expenditure on specific items would involve disproportionate cost.
	The Department's policy on the provision of alcohol prohibits the supply of any alcohol paid from taxpayers' money on in-house hospitality. For external hospitality, given the significant savings being delivered by the Department and the stringent financial controls in place, such discretionary expenditure is incurred only on the rare occasions in which director-level approval is granted.
	The following restrictions apply to all staff in respect of expenditure on refreshments.
	No lunches, tea or coffee can be ordered for any internal meeting (i.e. a meeting between MOJ staff). Water and jugs are freely available in most of our offices.
	For all external meetings (i.e. a meeting between MOJ staff and external stakeholders), lunch, tea and coffee purchases require director-level sign-off and are only allowed in exceptional circumstances.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners there are in UK prisons from each of the five countries with the largest number of nationals in UK prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The following table includes the number of foreign national prisoners by nationality for each of the five countries with the largest volume of nationals in England and Wales, as at 30 September 2012. These figures are published quarterly in table 1.6 of the ‘Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin’ available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/prisons-and-probation/oms-quarterly.htm
	Issues arising in Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive respectively.
	
		
			 Population in prison by nationality, for each of the five countries with the largest volume of nationals, England and Wales, 30 September 2012 
			 Country Population in prison establishments 
			 Jamaica 868 
			 Poland 861 
			 Irish Republic 767 
			 Romania 571 
			 Nigeria 560 
			   
			 All nationalities 86,457 
			 British nationals 73,651 
			 Foreign nationals 10,951 
			 Nationality not recorded 1,855 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Security

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of occasions where due to the loss or theft of keys a prison has had to be re-locked since May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was of such incidents.

Jeremy Wright: There have been four occasions when a prison has had to be re-locked since 2010, The cost to the public purse was £337, 551 (excluding VAT).

Sentencing

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many child sex offenders have received an indeterminate sentence for public protection in each category of offence in each of the last 15 years.

Jeremy Wright: The sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) was created by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and implemented for offences committed after 4 April 2005.
	Offenders given an indeterminate sentence for public protection at all courts for child sexual offences in England and Wales, from 2005-11, can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			 Offenders given an indeterminate sentence for public protection, at all courts, for sexual offences against children, England and Wales, 2005-11 (1, 2, 3) 
			  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Sexual offences against children(4) 25 209 259 243 186 183 161 
			 (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Imprisonment for public protection became available from April 2005. (4) Includes sexual offences against a child where the age of the victim has been recognised: Sexual Offences Act 2003, s1, s5, s6, s7, s8. s9, s10, s11, S12, s14, s15, S16, s17, s18, s19, s25, s26, s47, s48, s49, s50. Criminal Justice Act 1988, s160 Protection of Children Act 1978, s1 Indecency with Children Act 1960, s1 Sexual Offences Act 1956, s28 Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.

Work Capability Assessment: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals to work capability assessments where the appellant had received zero points in the original assessment were upheld by the Tribunal Service in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Helen Grant: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance (decisions in which the work capability assessment is a key factor) rather than appeals against work capability assessment decisions themselves.
	The SSCS Tribunal only holds information on the number of points an individual has received in the work capability assessment within individual case files, not in its database. The information requested could, therefore, only be provided at disproportionate cost by manually checking individual files.

CABINET OFFICE

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Yorkshire and the Humber

David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many alcohol-related deaths there have been in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many drug-related deaths there have been in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last three years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions.
	The following tables provide the number of deaths where the underlying cause was alcohol-related (Table 1) and related to drug poisoning (Table 2), for (a) Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency, (b) East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber region, for the years 2009 to 2011 (the latest year available).
	Alcohol-related deaths are reported consistently across the United Kingdom using an agreed National Statistics definition that only includes those causes regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption (see Box 1 as follows). Alcohol-related death figures for the UK and its constituent countries are available on the ONS website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-29395
	Figures on the number of deaths related to drug poisoning registered in England and Wales are available on the ONS website at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1. Number of deaths where the underlying cause was alcohol-related, Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency, East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority, and Yorkshire and the Humber region, 2009 to 2011 (1, 2, 3, 4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 666 672 717 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority 30 40 40 
		
	
	
		
			 Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency 5 8 7 
			 (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). The specific conditions which are included in the National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths, and their corresponding ICD-10 codes, are shown in Box 1 as follows. (2) Based on boundaries as of November 2012. (3) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. (4 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 
		
	
	
		
			 Box 1. National Statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths 
			 Description ICD 10 codes 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 
			 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 
			 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy I42.6 
			 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 
			 Alcoholic liver disease K70 
			 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 
			 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (Excluding K74.3-K74.5, Billiary cirrhosis) K74 
			 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 
			 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 
			 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2. Number of deaths related to drug poisoning, Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency, East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority, and Yorkshire and the Humber region, 2009 to 2011 (1, 2, 3, 4) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 270 244 233 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority 14 9 12 
			 Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency 3 1 1 
			 (1) Cause of death for was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10) codes shown in Box 2 as follows. (2) Based on boundaries as of November 2012. (3) Figures exclude deaths of non-residents. (4) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year 
		
	
	
		
			 Box 2. ICD-10 codes for deaths related to drug poisoning 
			 Description ICD 10 codes 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) F11-F16, F18-F19 
			 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X40-X44 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X60-X64 
			 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X85 
			 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent Y10-Y14

Big Society Capital

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether Big Society Capital will lend money to community development finance institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: Big Society Capital (BSC) is an independent organisation. Further information on Big Society Capital; including its investment criteria can be found on the Big Society Capital website:
	www.bigsocietycapital.com

Charities: Fraud

Graham Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  if he will assess the adequacy of the powers available to prevent fraud by UK-based charities that operate primarily abroad;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the role of the Charity Commission in monitoring the employment rights of overseas workers employed by UK-based charities.

Nick Hurd: It is for trustees to ensure that the charity complies with the relevant laws in the countries in which it operates. Where UK-based charities operate abroad, the trustees must put in place measures to ensure the charity's funds are used for charitable purposes. The Charity Commission promotes charities' compliance with their legal obligations by providing charities with guidance on relevant matters of charity law; The Commission can intervene and use its regulatory powers where there is serious misconduct or mismanagement that puts at risk a charity's assets or beneficiaries.

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of officials in his Department have requested (a) part-time, (b) job-share or (c) other flexible working arrangements in each of the last five years; and how many such requests were granted.

Francis Maude: Flexible working will only be granted subject to business need. As at November 2012, 6.5% of my Department's work force work part time.

Employment

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were employed in (a) part-time and (b) full-time work in (i) Glasgow North West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK in (A) 2009, (B) 2010, (C) 2011 and (D) 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were employed in (a) part-time and (b) full-time work in (i) Glasgow North West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK in (A) 2009, (B) 2010, (C) 2011 and (D) 2012. (133787)
	ONS compiles Labour Market Statistics following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions for areas smaller than the UK from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
	The tables show the number of people who were employed part-time or full-time in their main job, according to interviews held during the period July 2011 to June 2012, the latest period available, and the corresponding periods ending in June 2011, June 2010 and June 2009.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates accompanies the estimates for the latest period.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of people employed part-time (1) 
			 Thousand 
			 12 months ending: June 2009 June 2010 June 2011 June 2012 (2) 
			 Glasgow North West n/a n/a n/a ****n/a 
			 Glasgow 56 67 64 **70 
			 Scotland 632 657 672 *687 
			 UK 7,508 7,697 7,785 *7,855 
			 n/a = estimate not available (1) Respondent considers themselves employed part-time. (2) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality. Source: Annual Population Survey 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of people employed full-time (1) 
			 Thousand 
			 12 months ending: June 2009 June 2010 June 2011 June 2012 (2) 
			 Glasgow North West 37 31 31 ***26 
			 Glasgow 209 190 195 **190 
			 Scotland 1,880 1,804 1,796 *1,779 
			 UK 21,429 21,002 21,084 *21,124 
			 (1) Respondent considers themselves employed full-time. (2 )Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV – for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes Source: Annual Population Survey

Internet

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of people with access to the internet in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK.

Nick Hurd: The information requested fails within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of people with access to the internet in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK. (133929)
	Estimates of Internet use by adults aged 16 years and over are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics and are available on our website. These estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and have United Kingdom (UK) coverage. The latest available estimate (in respect of 2012 Q3) of the number of adults who have ever used the Internet in Glasgow is 375,000. The estimate for Scotland is 3,592,000, whilst the estimate for the UK is 42,792,000. Estimates at parliamentary constituency level are not available.

Olympic Games 2012: Anniversaries

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will organise a celebration of the London 2012 Olympics games makers and other Olympic volunteers to mark the first anniversary of the Games; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: Various plans are under way to commemorate the 2012 games. Further details will be announced in due course.
	In addition, the Prime Minister has written to thank the thousands of Games Makers for their work in London 2012 and awarded them the 50(th) Big Society Award at a reception at Downing street in November.
	Her Majesty the Queen has recognised the work of the LOCOG Games Makers by awarding them a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 this month.

Pay

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in each of the last two years.

Francis Maude: As part of this Government's transparency programme, last year for the very first time, all Departments published analysis of non-consolidated performance related payments. Information for 2010-11 is available at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data
	Awards for 2011-12 are being finalised and the data will be published at the above link shortly.
	Since May 2010 the Government has reversed the “all must have prizes” culture which saw the majority of civil servants awarded bonuses. Bonuses have been restricted to the top 25% of performers for the senior civil service (down from an average of 65% across Departments in previous years), saving the taxpayer around £15 million. They are only paid to reward excellence, for example to recognise and incentivise those delivering high quality public services and savings to the taxpayer. In 2009-10 the Cabinet Office paid awards to 48.3% of its senior civil service, compared to 25% of its senior civil servants in 2011-12.
	As part of the Civil Service Reform Plan, Ministers are now able to feed into the appraisals of civil servants whose work they see. This will help ensure that appraisals of civil servants better reflect the dual leadership of Departments.

Plymouth Brethren

Caroline Flint: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what his policy is on the inclusion of The Brethren's Trust in the charity register of England and Wales;
	(2)  what representations he has received from The Brethren's Trust on its request to be registered as a charitable organisation.

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will consider bringing forward legislative proposals relating to public benefit to ensure that previously accepted religious charities are not threatened with removal of their charitable status.

Nick Hurd: I refer the right hon. Members to the answer I gave on 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 89W, to the hon. Member for South Antrim (Dr McCrea).

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Iain Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  with reference to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, how many times the Strategic Defence and Security Review Implementation Board has met;
	(2)  which Minister in his Department chairs the Strategic Defence and Security Review Implementation Board.

Oliver Letwin: The Strategic Defence and Security Review Implementation Board has met seven times.
	The Strategic Defence and Security Review Implementation Board is a committee of senior officials chaired by the Cabinet Office and reporting to the National Security Council chaired by the Prime Minister.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 703W, on unmanned air vehicles, if he will undertake a risk assessment of the potential threat to national security of (a) the proliferation of drone technology and (b) its use by governments and non-state actors.

Chloe Smith: The National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) provides a comprehensive assessment and prioritisation of all major extant and emerging risks which seriously threaten the UK's national security interests. The way in which potentially hostile government and/or non-state actors could employ an array of offensive technologies, including drones, is considered as part of this assessment.

Voluntary Work: Young People

David Blunkett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 120W, on voluntary work: young people, what best practice from 2012 pilots of the National Citizen Service his Department has shared with future providers.

Nick Hurd: In order to capture best practice from the 2012 pilots of National Citizen Service (NCS), the Cabinet Office visited 41 programmes across the country, ran workshops with 2012 providers and collected feedback from participants, parents and staff. This information was used to produce guidance on recruitment techniques and programme design and content. The guidance is being shared with 2013 NCS providers through workshops, one to one meetings and written toolkits. In addition the vast majority of the 2013 providers delivered NCS programmes in 2012.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Building Research Establishment

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will visit the Building Research Establishment Innovation Park in Watford.

Gregory Barker: I visited the Building Research Establishment Innovation Park on the 30 April 2012.

Carbon Sequestration

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many of the projects shortlisted for the carbon capture and storage competition have provided evidence that they could be fully commissioned and generating power by 31 December 2016.

John Hayes: In order to remain eligible for the competition, projects had to demonstrate the potential to be operational between 2016 and 2020. The Carbon Capture and Storage Competition continues and it would be inappropriate to disclose details regarding the bids, as doing so might undermine competition.

Carbon Sequestration

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish his evidence submitted to the Cabinet Office Project Assessment Review Panel as part of its due diligence on his Department's carbon capture and storage competition.

John Hayes: The evidence submitted is commercially sensitive as it refers to the current competition and will not be released into the public domain at this stage. The PAR report will be published at the appropriate time.

Carbon Sequestration

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has set aside during the current spending review period to fund any successful project arising from the carbon capture and storage competition.

John Hayes: Capital funding of £l billion remains available to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and the mechanism for making that capital grant available for successful bids within the CCS competition has been agreed with HM Treasury. I expect CCS projects to come forward in this spending review period and for expenditure to be committed as part of that process.

Carbon Sequestration

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department will confirm to the EU the UK’s commitment to co-fund any successful project arising from the carbon capture and storage competition currently under way.

John Hayes: As set out in the written ministerial statement made by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), on 30 October 2012, Official Report, columns 10-12WS, DECC officials have confirmed (to the Commission) UK support for the three UK Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) New Entrant Reserve 300 (NER300) applicants remaining in the UK CCS competitive process. This support is subject to success in the UK process.

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of officials in his Department have requested (a) part-time, (b) job-share or (c) other flexible working arrangements in each of the last five years; and how many such requests were granted.

Gregory Barker: DECC offers a variety of flexible working such as part-time working, job-sharing and flexible working hours. The Department does not record requests for flexible working and so cannot provide the number of requests or the number that were granted. In September 2012 7.8% of DECC employees worked part-time which includes job-sharing.

Electricity Generation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 2.7 of his Department’s Gas Generation Strategy, published on 5 December 2012, what his Department’s policy is on carbon intensity of 50G carbon dioxide/KWh for the power sector in 2030.

John Hayes: The Government will take a power to set a legally binding decarbonisation target for the electricity sector specifically, as a Government amendment to the Energy Bill.
	The level of the decarbonisation target will be set when the Committee on Climate Change has provided advice on the 5th Carbon Budget covering the corresponding period (2028-32), and when the Government has set the level of this budget (in 2016).
	Before then, to ensure clarity, we will be issuing guidance to National Grid consistent with the least cost approach to achieve our overall 2050 carbon target.

Electricity Generation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraphs 2.26 to 2.29 of his Department’s Gas Generation Strategy, published on 5 December 2012, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of (a) 50G carbon dioxide/KWh, (b) 100G carbon dioxide/KWh and (c) 200G carbon dioxide/KWh grid carbon intensity on overall carbon dioxide emission levels in (i) 2030 and (ii) 2050.

John Hayes: The estimated emission levels from the GB power sector in 2030 under the three grid carbon intensity sensitivities in 2030, for an assumed level of GB electricity demand, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 CO 2 /kWh Estimated emissions from the power sector in 2030 (Mt CO 2) 
			 50g 17 
			 100g 35 
			 200g 68 
		
	
	The three different grid carbon intensity trajectories to 2030 considered in the Gas Generation Strategy do not impact on overall carbon dioxide emission levels in 2050. Analysis for the Carbon plan suggested that in order to achieve the 2050 carbon target cost effectively, the power sector would need to be largely decarbonised in the 2030s.

Electricity Generation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 3.60 of his Department's Gas Generation Strategy, published on 5 December 2012, what the evidential basis is for the statement that in September 2012 45 per cent of GB power was traded through auction.

John Hayes: Paragraph 3.60 of the Gas Generation Strategy states that 45% of GB power was traded through day-ahead auctions in September 2012.
	In September 2012, total GB electricity generation was 23.05 terawatt hours. This is based on Elexon's data on Initial National Demand Out-Turn (INDO), which is the half-hour average megawatt transmitted electrical energy metered by National Grid Electricity Transmission plc.
	According to DECC calculations based on APX Power UK Auction and Nord Pool Spot data in the same month, 10.39 terawatt hours were traded though day-ahead auctions. This equates to 45.07% of GB generation.

Electricity Generation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 5.25 of his Department's Gas Generation Strategy, published on 5 December 2012, what the responsibilities will be of the Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: As was explained in the Gas Generation Strategy, DECC will set up an Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil, which, working with relevant Departments and agencies, will join up responsibilities across Government, provide a single point of contact for investors, and ensure a simplified and streamlined regulatory process. DECC will be consulting with the relevant Departments and agencies on how to take this forward.

Electricity Generation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 6.2 of his Department's Gas Generation Strategy, published on 5 December 2012, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of the gas generation mix that will need to be equipped with carbon capture and storage technology by 2030.

John Hayes: There is considerable uncertainty over not only how the electricity sector will develop to 2030, but also how low carbon technologies will develop. The Government is committed to supporting carbon capture and storage (CCS). However the level of CCS that will be deployed by 2030 will be dependent on whether CCS projects are cost competitive with other low carbon generation projects.
	Given this DECC carried out scenario analysis, which was presented in the Gas Generation Strategy. This analysis suggested that CCS could contribute up to 13GW by 2030. How this is deployed between coal and gas plant will be for the market to determine.

Electricity Generation

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the generation of electricity by local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: In 2010, we gave local authorities the power to sell electricity generated from renewable sources. It is therefore up to local authorities to generate and sell electricity if they wish and we are encouraging them to do so where this is appropriate. We have also facilitated this through ‘lite’ electricity supply licence, which would allow a local authority district heating operator to sell electricity at retail rates to consumers.
	We are also supporting community ownership of localised renewable energy projects through the Feed-in-Tariffs scheme. Local projects engage neighbourhoods and communities in becoming involved with generating local heat and power e.g. Combined Heat and Power with District Heating (CHP-DH) networks in Woking, Southampton, Nottingham and Sheffield.
	Local authorities also have a role in encouraging energy efficiency take up, including the Green Deal, and looking after consumer interests, for example, through the pioneer places and core cities initiatives and through supporting or running collective switching schemes.

Energy: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding his Department has allocated directly to investment in (a) renewable, (b) gas, (c) nuclear and (d) coal energy in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: It is estimated that replacing and upgrading our electricity infrastructure and closing power stations over the next decade will require approximately £110 billion of capital investment:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/policy-legislation/EMR/5349-electricity-market-reform-policy-overview.pdf
	Much of this investment will come from the private sector with Government putting in place the right market incentives.
	DECC also provides some direct funding, primarily for the purpose of reducing the costs of commercial deployment:
	(a) Renewable energy
	Actual, and planned spend through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is:
	2010-11: £1.56 million•
	2011-12: £6.8 million
	2012-13: £37.5 million
	These figures are based on accruals calculated using applications received and an estimate of what the financial commitment would be if these all were accredited onto the scheme and generated heat as per our assumptions.
	Actual spend by DECC in innovation for renewables in 2010-11 was £29 million through the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) and Low Carbon Investment Fund (LCIF).
	In addition, in this Spending Review, (2011-12 to 2014-15) the following DECC funding is available for innovation in renewable technologies:
	Up to £20 million for marine technology
	Up to £30 million for offshore wind technology
	Up to £17 million for bioenergy systems demonstration projects
	DECC has also committed £60 million to support offshore wind manufacturing through the Grant for Business Investment scheme.
	(b) Gas and (d) coal
	There was no direct DECC funding for gas or coal per se, but there is funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.
	In 2010-11, £3.1 million was spent on CCS R&D projects.
	In addition, in this Spending Review, (2011-12 to 2014-15), up to £20 million is available for innovation in carbon capture and storage technologies;
	(c) Nuclear energy
	In 2012-13 DECC has direct funding available for:
	£1.132 million for an early R&D programme on the fuel cycle by the National Nuclear Laboratory
	An estimated £17.0 million investment into facilities and skills to support future R&D activities.
	There was nil spend on nuclear energy in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Energy: Meters

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department made of the different types of smart meters available in advance of the national roll-out of smart meters.

Gregory Barker: The Department has assessed smart meters offered by manufacturers in Britain and internationally. Our assessments have covered: the range of functionality supported by each type; the standards used to 'talk' to meters remotely; security requirements; and the support that different types of smart meter will provide to smart grids. This analysis has informed the Department's work to develop the technical specification for the smart meters to be used in Britain, which has been progressed in conjunction with meter manufacturers, consumer bodies and other stakeholders.

Environment Protection

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral statement of 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 389, on energy policy, what his Department’s forecast is of (a) energy efficiency savings and (b) support for low-carbon electricity generation in 2020.

Gregory Barker: According to the current projections, the existing package of energy efficiency policies is projected to save 163 TWh in 2020 relative to the business as usual baseline.
	Support for low-carbon electricity, generation is funded through the Levy Control Framework. Total levy support for 2020-21 has been set at £7.6 billion (real 2011-12) and will help fund low-carbon generation from a range of technologies. This level of support is consistent with delivering the Government’s ambition to generate 30% of electricity from renewable sources in 2020, while also supporting generation from both nuclear and carbon capture and storage plants.
	On 29 November, we launched a consultation to explore what more can be done to reduce electricity demand across the UK economy. This consultation is a key part of our national Energy Efficiency Strategy published last month.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which EU directives his Department transposed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which EU directives his Department expects to transpose in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such directive to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Gregory Barker: The information is as follows:
	(a) DECC transposed the following directives in 2011:
	Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
	Directive 2009/31/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide
	Directive 2009/72/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity
	Directive 2009/73/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in gas
	No new legislation was needed to transpose directive 2009/7l/Euratom establishing a community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations in the UK.
	(b) Transposition of the following directive was completed in 2012:
	Directive 2009/29/EC to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme of the community.
	The following directive is expected to be transposed by the end of 2012:
	Directive 2009/119/EC imposing an obligation to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products.
	(i) Directives to be transposed in 2013:
	The Department is considering whether legislation will be required to transpose directive 2011/70/Euratom establishing a community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.
	(ii) The following directive is expected to be transposed in 2014:
	Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency
	A and B:
	Published Impact Assessments provide an estimate of costs. Impact Assessments for directive 2009/28/EC, directive 2009/72/EC, directive 2009/73/EC, directive 2009/31/EC and directive 2009/119/EC can be found at:
	http://www.ialibrary.bis.gov.uk/uploaded/1_20090715120705_e_@@_UKRenewableEnergyStratey2009Overall ImpactAssessmenturn09D683150609.pdf
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/govt_response/govt_response.aspx
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/cons_co2_stor/cons_co2_stor.aspx
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/all?title-Oil%20Stocking%200rder%202012%20
	An Office for Nuclear Regulation Impact Assessment for the changes to nuclear site licence conditions to implement directive 2009/71/Euratom—letter from Dr Mike Weightman Re: Nuclear Safety Directive 2009/71/Euratom—can be found at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/news/2011/may-consultation-letter.htm
	Impact Assessments for directive 2009/29/EC can also be found above.
	DECC will be consulting on implementation of directive 2012/27/EU in 2013. This will be accompanied by an Impact Assessment.

Exhaust Emissions: Aviation

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what agreements were made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha on reducing emissions from global aviation.

Gregory Barker: No decisions were made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha on reducing emissions from global aviation, although the issue was discussed at length. However, the Government remains committed to tackling the climate change impacts of international aviation and will continue to work through the International Civil Aviation Organization to push for a global agreement on measures to address emissions from this sector.

Exhaust Emissions: Aviation

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the inclusion of international aviation in the Climate Change Act 2008.

Gregory Barker: International aviation emissions are not currently included within the UK's net carbon account. The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), is taking into account the advice provided by the Committee on Climate Change on this matter and will respond by end 2012 as required by section 30 of the Climate Change Act 2008.

Fuel Poverty: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to address levels of fuel poverty in Leeds North West constituency.

Gregory Barker: The coalition Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty and supporting vulnerable consumers to heat their homes at an affordable cost.
	The Warm Home Discount scheme will provide over 1 million of the poorest pensioners with an automatic Core Group discount of £130 off their electricity bills this winter. Other low income vulnerable households may also be assisted through the scheme. Overall we expect 2 million low income vulnerable households a year to be assisted through the Warm Home Discount scheme.
	We continue to fund the Warm Front scheme, providing low income vulnerable households, living in energy inefficient properties, with energy efficient heating and insulation measures. Since 2005 Warm Front has assisted 1,423 households in the Leeds North West constituency(1).
	From January 2013, the new Energy Company Obligation, which will run alongside the Green Deal, will ensure that help goes to low income and vulnerable households to enable them to heat their homes more affordably on a long term basis. Through the Affordable Warmth and Carbon Saving Communities Obligations together should generate expenditure in home thermal efficiency improvements worth around £540 million per year, supporting around 230,000 low income households each year.
	In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions provide pensioner households with winter fuel payments to help with additional heating costs during the winter. Cold weather payments are also made to low income and vulnerable households where there is an average temperature of 0°C or below for seven consecutive days. These payments have been permanently increased to £25 per week and in winter 2011-12 over 5 million cold weather payments were paid in Great Britain worth an estimated £129 million.
	(1) This figure is as at end of November 2012. Data is not available prior to 2005.

Gas Fired Power Stations

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make the approval of applications for consent for new gas-fired power stations conditional on such stations being equipped with carbon capture and storage technology.

John Hayes: The Government believes carbon capture and storage technology can play a significant role in achieving the decarbonisation of the UK economy at least cost. That is why we are supporting the deployment of this technology through our Commercialisation Programme.
	All new thermal power stations at or over 300MWe, and of a type covered by the EU large combustion plant directive, including gas, are required to be carbon capture ready (CCR), meaning that they must demonstrate it to be technically and economically feasible to retrofit CCS to the power station in the future and retain control over sufficient additional space on which to install the carbon capture equipment. There are no plans to make consent for new gas-fired power stations conditional on them being equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
	The regime created under EMR will incentivise further investment in CCS equipped generation plant, alongside other forms of low-carbon generation such as renewables and nuclear.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written ministerial statement by the Minister of State for Energy of 10 December 2012, on Post-Energy Council, Brussels, 3 December 2012, what his Department's policy is on post-2020 renewables targets.

John Hayes: The UK Government is committed to meeting EU and UK decarbonisation targets up to 2050. As part of this we envisage substantial growth in renewable energy deployment, with a binding target for 2020. However, we do not believe that it is appropriate to set specific renewables targets in the period post-2020. This is because of the need to take account of issues such as technology competitiveness, energy security, environmental sustainability, value for money, and support for less mature renewable technologies. It is more appropriate to focus on meeting legally-binding carbon reduction targets in the most cost-effective way, with flexibility about precise levels of renewables deployment.

Renewable Energy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Co-operative movement on its clean energy revolution campaign.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met with the Community Energy Coalition at a roundtable event in October. This brought together some of the UK's most influential civil society organisations and the Co-operative Group to talk about co-operative and community energy.
	DECC officials are scoping a Community Energy Strategy for release in late spring 2013, and they will be working closely with the Department's expert advisory group, the Community Energy Contact Group, and the Community Energy Coalition in the coming months to develop the strategy.

Renewable Energy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on support for community-owned renewable energy schemes.

Gregory Barker: The Government recognises the power of community enterprise and institutions to effect change in society, and the coalition agreement included a commitment to supporting community energy projects.
	We are scoping a Community Energy Strategy at the request of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), that will be released in late spring 2013.

TRANSPORT

A14

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many (a) road traffic accidents and (b) road fatalities there have been on the A14 in Suffolk in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many accidents have occurred at or near each junction on the A14 in (a) Suffolk and (b) in total in each of the last three years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department only collects information relating to personal injury accidents, and therefore does not include damage-only accidents in its statistics.
	In each of the last three years the number of reported personal injury accidents occurring at, or within 20 metres of, each junction of the A14, in (a) Suffolk and (b) in total, were as follows:
	
		
			 Reported number of personal injury accidents occurring at, or within 20 metres of, a junction of the A14 (1)  by nearest junction number, 2009-11 
			 Number of accidents 
			 Junction number Junction located in Suffolk 2009 2010 2011 
			 1  3 4 1 
			 2  7 3 6 
			 3  — 2 2 
			 4  3 3 — 
			 5  1 — 1 
			 7  4 3 4 
			 8  1 2 2 
			 9  1 3 — 
			 10  5 1 1 
			 11  — 1 — 
			 12  — 1 — 
			 13  — 1 — 
			 14  — — 1 
			 15  1 — 1 
			 17  2 1 — 
			 19a  2 — 1 
			 21  8 9 7 
			 22  1 2 — 
			 23  — 2 — 
			 24  1 3 — 
			 25  — 1 1 
			 26  — 2 2 
			 27  3 1 1 
			 28  — — 2 
			 29  1 2 — 
			 30  2 — — 
			 31  6 2 1 
			 32  2 1 — 
			 33  2 2 1 
			 34  — 1 — 
			 35  1 — — 
			 36  — — 1 
			 37 * 2 2 2 
			 38  1 — — 
			 42 * 2 3 — 
			 43 * 1 2 — 
			 44 * 2 1 1 
			 45 * 1 — 1 
			 47 * — 1 1 
			 49 * 1 3 — 
			 50 * 3 2 2 
			 51 * 1 — 1 
		
	
	
		
			 52 * 4 1 3 
			 53 * — 3 3 
			 54 * — — 1 
			 55 * 4 6 2 
			 56 * 2 — 3 
			 57 * — 3 — 
			 58 * 2 1 2 
			 59 * 2 2 — 
			 60 * 3 2 4 
			 61 * — 1 — 
			 62 * 1 — 1 
			 Unknown(2)  7 3 7 
			 of which in Suffolk  4 2 5 
			 Suffolk total  35 35 32 
			 A14 total  96 89 70 
			 (1) Includes Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. (2) Accidents occurring at road junctions that do not have junction numbers or where the precise location of the accident is unknown or uncertain. Note: Where a junction number is missing from the table this indicates that there were no accidents at this junction during this time period. 
		
	
	Police reports of accidents do not contain junction numbers. The accidents have been allocated to the closest junction using the grid reference of the accident. In some cases the grid reference provided on the accident report form cannot be used to allocate the accident to specific junction number or the accident occurred at a road intersection without a junction number. These accidents are recorded as being at an “unknown” junction.
	In each of the last three years the number of reported personal injury accidents, and the number of fatalities, on the A14 in Suffolk, were as follows:
	
		
			 Reported number of personal injury accidents and fatalities occurring on the A14 in Suffolk, 2009-11 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Accidents 100 118 121 
			 Fatalities 4 2 5

A14

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the most recent traffic flow data is for each section of the A14.

Stephen Hammond: The following table shows the latest annual average daily traffic flow (AADT) figures for the sections of the A14 between M1 Junction 19 and Felixstowe Docks, where figures are available:
	
		
			 Section AADT 
			 January to December 2011  
			 M1 Junction 19 to A14 Junction 1 44,480 
			 Junctions 1 to 2 44,634 
			 Junctions 2 to 3 n/a 
			 Junctions 3 to 4 n/a 
			 Junctions 4 to 6 65,301 
			 Junctions 6 to 7 n/a 
			 Junctions 7 to 8 73,489 
			 Junctions 8 to 9 68,055 
			 Junctions 9 to 10 57,935 
			 Junctions 10 to 11 42,520 
		
	
	
		
			 Junctions 11 to 12 42,266 
			 Junctions 12 to 13 42,237 
			   
			 October 2011 to September 2012  
			 Junctions 13 to 21 38,618 
			 Junctions 21 to 23 44,436 
			 Junctions 23 to 24 67,435 
			 Junctions 24 to 26 67,168 
			 Junctions 26 to 31 80,132 
			 Junctions 31 to 32 61,680 
			 Junctions 32 to 35 51,324 
			 Junctions 35 to 36 79,321 
			 Junctions 36 to 37 58,746 
			   
			 January to December 2011  
			 Exning to Waterhall 66,000 
			 Waterhall to Higham 32,422 
			 Higham to Westley 43,891 
			 Westley to St Saviour's 39,772 
			 St Saviour's to Moreton Hall 44,250 
			 Moreton Hall to Beyton 37,651 
			 Beyton to Woolpit 38,574 
			 Woolpit to Stowmarket North 34,980 
			 Stowmarket North to Cedars 27,857 
			 Cedars to Beacon Hill 36,445 
			 Beacon Hill to Claydon 48,760 
			 Clayton to Whitehouse 47,184 
			 Whitehouse to Sproughton 46,073 
			 Sproughton to Copdock 48,164 
			 Copdock to Wherstead 51,592 
			 Wherstead to Nacton 54,204 
			 Nacton to Levington 43,710 
			 Levington to Trimley 38,133 
			 Trimley to Dockspur 32,656 
			 Dockspur to Felixstowe Dock 19,892

Biofuels

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of imported ethanol from the US being supplied under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO); and what action his Department is taking to ensure that the RTFO supports the UK biofuels industry;
	(2)  if his Department will consult on the effect that the joint obligation for the use of both biodiesel and ethanol under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation is having on the supply of imported ethanol.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport administers the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) and produces statistics on the supply of biofuel and biogas in the UK by country of origin and feedstock, and reports performance. Data is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport/series/biofuels-statistics
	For data reported under the RTFO from December 2011 to April 2012, 69% of bioethanol reported was sourced from US corn oil. For the first quarter of 2012-13 (14 April to 15 July 2012) this figure was 76%. However, this latest data only covers biofuels for which Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) have been issued. Suppliers do not need to apply for RTFCs until the end of each year. The data may not therefore be fully representative of actual supply.
	The RTFO scheme is designed to reduce carbon emissions and promote the supply of sustainable biofuels. The RTFO operates as a market-based instrument which gives suppliers the flexibility to meet their obligation at least cost. It is our primary mechanism for implementing the transport elements, of the EU Renewable Energy Directive. The Directive does not provide for differential levels of support for domestic supply. All ethanol produced from US corn oil supplied under the RTFO since December 2011 has had to meet mandatory sustainability criteria in order to. benefit from incentives under that scheme, supported by independent verification.
	The Department for Transport has committed to a review of the double certificate scheme and support provided under the RTFO in 2013.
	In carrying out the review we will continue to take into account the views of suppliers reporting under the RTFO, including views on whether there should be a split or joint obligation.

Bus Services: Private Sector

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what share of the deregulated bus market was operated by private transport companies with operations in more than one country in each year since 1986-87.

Norman Baker: I regret that this information is not held by the Department for Transport.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many full-time equivalent staff were employed on consultancy contracts in his Department on the latest date for which figures are available; how many such staff were employed on the same date 12 months ago; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Department does not employ staff on consultancy contracts. However, the Department does engage staff via "contingent labour" contracts. The latest figures can be found at the following website:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/dft-workforce-management-information

Crossrail Line

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will investigate reports that blacklists (a) were and (b) are being used by contractors completing construction work on public contracts relating to the delivery of Crossrail.

Stephen Hammond: Crossrail Ltd is responsible for the delivery of the Crossrail project and the management of its contractors.
	Crossrail Ltd is not aware of, and has seen no evidence of, blacklisting of any kind in connection with the Crossrail project.
	Crossrail Ltd requires all companies working on the project to comply with the law, which includes compliance with the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010. The Department understands that Crossrail Ltd is seeking written assurances from its contractors that they are aware of and complying with these obligations.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the construction and operation of High Speed 2 on the short-term and long-term operation of the Hangar Lane Gyratory.

Simon Burns: HS2 Ltd's initial assessment of the effect on traffic and transport near the proposed route will be published as part of the Draft Environmental Statement in spring 2013.
	HS2 Ltd is working hard to ensure that the alignment of the railway through the Hanger Lane area does not result in a significant loss in road capacity. This work includes data provided by Transport for London as well as HS2 Ltd's own traffic assessments.
	HS2 Ltd is also working in partnership with Transport for London to explore the possibility of making improvements to the junction once the works required for HS2 are complete.

Israel

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the content is of the agreement between the Government and the Government of Israel regarding the authority of Israeli security agents on UK soil.

Simon Burns: The Department for Transport has made no such agreement, nor are we aware of any such agreement.

Public Transport: Crime

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what categories of crime have (a) increased and (b) decreased on (i) railways and (ii) buses in each year since 2005.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not routinely hold rail crime information, as the British Transport Police (BTP) is the national police force for the railways. BTP statistics show that crime on Britain's railways fell by 9.1% over the last year. This was the eighth consecutive year of falling crime on the network. Crime on the railways over the past five years fell by over 30%.
	Information relating to bus crime is not held by the Department for Transport.

Railways: Norwich

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions trains between Norwich and London Liverpool Street were more than (a) 15 minutes, (b) 30 minutes and (c) one hour late in arriving at their final destination in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 to date.

Norman Baker: The Department does not hold the information requested. However, Network Rail publishes performance data on its website.

Railways: Norwich

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age of rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line was during (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 to date.

Simon Burns: A variety of train types, of differing ages, use the Norwich to London line. The average age of train operator's entire fleets is available from the Office of Rail Regulation's website, here:
	http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/53dcc4e1-3223-48f9-9e9c-10d51359cdd7
	However, this is not broken down by route.

Railways: Norwich

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  on how many occasions trains or rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line failed routine safety inspections in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many instances have been identified of employees (a) operating vehicles and (b) managing infrastructure on the Norwich to London railway line without the appropriate safety certificate or authorisation during each of the last three years.

Simon Burns: This information is not held by the Department for Transport and is a matter for the individual train operator and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). I suggest my hon. Friend contacts the Chief Executive Office of the ORR at the following address for further information:
	Chief Executive
	Office of Rail Regulation
	One Kemble Street
	London
	WC2B 4AN

Railways: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with (a) Northern Rail and (b) Network Rail about improving infrastructure and rolling stock on the Tees Valley Line.

Simon Burns: Ministers have had no recent discussions with Northern Rail or Network Rail about improving infrastructure or rolling stock on the Tees Valley line. However, departmental officials are in regular contact with the Tees Valley Metro promoters to help them achieve their objectives.

Roads: Accidents

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic collisions were responded to by police in (a) the Suffolk police force area and (b) England in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012 to date; and how many such collisions involved a fatality.

Stephen Hammond: The Department only collects information relating to personal injury accidents, and therefore does not include in its statistics damage-only accidents, or cases where a police officer attended an accident but did not report it.
	In each of the last three years, the number of reported personal injury accidents and the number of those accidents involving a fatality, where a police officer attended the scene and obtained report details, in (a) the Suffolk police force area, and (b) England, were as follows:
	
		
			 Reported number of personal injury accidents in the Suffolk police force area, and England, where a police officer attended the scene and obtained report details, 2009 - 11 
			   Number of Accidents 
			   2009 2010 2011 
			 Suffolk Fatal 37 19 28 
			  Total 1,640 1,523 1,598 
			      
			 England Fatal 1,715 1,431 1,491 
			  Total 115,531 110,033 108,895 
		
	
	In-year totals for 2012 have only been published at Great Britain level. The latest published figures cover the period to June 2012 and are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras45-quarterly-statistics
	Figures for geographic areas within Great Britain for the year 2012 are due for publication in June 2013.

Roads: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated for road safety improvements in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire and (f) Norfolk in each of the last three years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not make separate allocations for road safety improvements but such improvements can be funded via the Integrated Transport Block capital allocation. Over the last three years, the capital allocation for these specific authorities is as follows:
	
		
			 All figures £ million 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Suffolk 5.061 4.508 4.122 
			 Central Bedfordshire 1.995 1.464 1.339 
			 Cambridgeshire 6.104 .4.439 4.059 
			 Essex 10.445 9.150 8.366 
			 Hertfordshire 8.755 6.804 6.221 
			 Norfolk 8.224 5.824 5.324 
		
	
	In addition, authorities are able to use revenue funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant for road safety measures.

Severn River Crossing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with the Welsh Government on the management of the Severn river crossings once they pass into Government ownership.

Stephen Hammond: As yet, there have been no ministerial discussions with the Welsh Government on the management of the Severn crossings after the end of the current concession agreement.
	Officials meet regularly with colleagues in the Welsh Government and have discussed the future of the crossings.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of the shipping industry's compliance with the sulphur provisions of the revised Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships of (a) Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans and (b) an energy efficiency design index for ships; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether guidance on Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans has been issued by (a) his Department, (b) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and (c) other Government Departments;
	(3)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect the sulphur provisions of the revised Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships will have on shipping freight movements from the UK to Europe;
	(4)  if he will take steps to ensure that UK compliance with the sulphur provisions of the revised Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships does not (a) increase road freight journeys and (b) reduce freight movements by sea;
	(5)  when he expects the amended EU Directive 1999/32/EC on the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and reducing sulphur emissions from maritime transport to be transposed into UK law.

Stephen Hammond: The aim of Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans and the Energy Efficiency Design Index is to improve energy efficiency of ships and thereby reduce the amount of CO2 they emit. Improving the energy efficiency of a ship will normally result in lower fuel consumption, which will have the effect of proportionately reducing all gaseous emissions, including sulphur oxides. However, this would not achieve compliance with the sulphur limits in the revised Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention, or with the new EU directive 2012/33/EU. To comply with the International Maritime Organisation and EU sulphur limits, shipowners would either have to use a compliant fuel oil, install suitable abatement technology (e.g. an exhaust gas cleaning system) or switch to a low-sulphur alternative fuel (e.g. liquefied natural gas).
	The Department for Transport's Maritime and Coastguard Agency has produced guidance on Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans, and I expect it to be published in the week commencing 17 December as a supplement to the existing international guidance produced by the IMO. No other UK Government Department has published guidance on these plans.
	The Government is aware of concerns, including concerns about increased road freight journeys and reduced freight movements by sea, which have been raised by some elements of industry. On 22 October, I hosted a round table discussion with a range of industry stakeholders to consider cost-effective and technical solutions which could be used to meet the new requirements. At that meeting, I explicitly invited the shipping, freight logistics and ports industries to provide evidence to the Department to support claims about negative impacts, either in aggregate or concentrating on specific routes. Following on from this meeting, I am pleased to say that elements of the shipping industry have commissioned a study to consider the economic and social impact of the new requirements. In parallel, the Government is looking at ways of helping the industries to meet the new regulatory requirements.
	The Government will also publish a draft impact assessment as part of the transposition of the new directive next year. The deadline for transposing the directive into domestic legislation is 18 June 2014.

Transport for London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 195W, on Transport for London, what payments for (a) capital and (b) revenue funding have been made to Transport for London under the Bus Service Operators Grant in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; what such payments will be made in (A) 2013-14 and (B) 2014-15; for what purpose such payments are made; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Bus Service Operators Grant is currently paid direct to bus operators and as such no payments were made to Transport for London under the Bus Service Operators Grant in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.
	At present bus service operators in London have both a contractual relationship with Transport for London and claim Bus Service Operators Grant from the Department for Transport. From October 2013, Bus Service Operators Grant will be devolved to Transport for London for services tendered by Transport for London. The exact sum to be transferred to Transport for London has yet to be determined.

Transport: Floods

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on repairing flood damaged (a) roads and (b) railways in the last 12 months.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not have a specific fund to deal with flood damage on the local road network. In October 2010 and as part of the Spending Review the Government rationalised the number of individual grants to local authorities allowing greater flexibility in how funding is spent. This enables them to better respond to local needs and incidents such as the recent flooding events that have been encountered.
	Over the four year period from 2011, the Government is allocating £3 billion to local highway authorities for highways maintenance. In addition we also announced in March 2011 a further £200 million to deal with damage to the highway network caused by the severe winter weather that was encountered at the end of 2010.
	The Autumn Statement on 5 December 2012 also announced that the provision of a further £333 million over the next two financial years to 2015 for essential highways maintenance on both the strategic and local highway network. Details of final allocations to local highway authorities will be announced shortly.
	The Department has not provided any additional funding to the Highways Agency specifically for damage caused by flooding to the strategic road network for which they are responsible.
	In addition, the Department has not provided any funding specifically for repairing flood damaged railways over the last 12 months. Any funding to repair damage is entirely a matter for Network Rail.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps were taken to ensure the compliance of the new management contract with Virgin for the Intercity West Coast Mainline with EU procurement requirements.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State carried out his duties and obligations within the Railways Act 1993 and within domestic and European procurement law. The UK Government does not normally comment on its dealings with the European Commission or other European institutions. Any such discussions or dealings, whenever they do take place, are confidential.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council: National Lottery

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding has been (a) received and (b) spent by the Arts Council in the last two years.

Edward Vaizey: The information is as follows:
	(a) Arts Council England (ACE) received net lottery income of £152 million in 2010-11 and £182 million in 2011-12 (after transfers to the Olympics are taken into account).
	(b) ACE drew down £123 million of lottery money in 2010-11 and £115 million in 2011-12.
	Lottery money is not subject to annuality rules, so income does not have to be spent in the year that it is received.

Clothing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff of her Department are employed in fashion and textile policy areas.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) deploys staff flexibly across a range of projects and priorities. Currently, seven full-time members of staff are deployed on projects in the creative industries. DCMS also employs press officers and legal advisers who support creative industries work.

Common Purpose

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department paid to (a) the Common Purpose Charitable Trust, (b) Common Purpose Customised Limited, (c) Common Purpose International and (d) Common Purpose UK in each year between 1997-98 and 2010-11.

Hugh Robertson: In 2002 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport paid £8,460 for two employees to attend the ‘Common Purpose Spring Programme’ in order to further develop their leadership skills. This is the only recorded expenditure with a Common Purpose organisation since 1997-98.

Consumers: Protection

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2012, Official Report, column 463W, on direct selling, what steps her Department is taking to provide more effective protection for consumers in addition to new website pages and a new consumer guide.

Edward Vaizey: Further to my answer of 20 November 2012, Official Report, column 463W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile), I can advise that the Department has taken a number of steps to provide more effective protection for consumers against unsolicited marketing calls, with a focus on improved enforcement. This includes successfully pressing the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to increase the resources it devotes to enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003, which have since increased from 28 staff members to39. The ICO has also now published on its website a list of the most complained about companies that make calls to Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registered consumers. If the companies fail to remedy their actions they are likely to face further enforcement action. On 28 November the ICO also served monetary penalties totalling £440,000 to two owners of a marketing company, who were responsible for illegally distributing millions of unsolicited spam text messages to consumers. In addition, the ICO is considering issuing monetary penalties to three other companies for breaching the TPS.
	The ICO is also working closely with the Claims Management Regulator (CMR), which regulates financial companies, to identify those responsible for many unsolicited marketing calls and texts. Also, the ICO has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the CMR, to facilitate the sharing of information about breaches of the PECR by claims management companies.
	I will also be meeting the ICO, TPS and Ofcom again in the new year to review progress and explore further options for improved enforcement.

Creative Partnerships

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much she plans to spend on creative partnerships in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Edward Vaizey: Creative Partnerships was funded at arm's length from Government by Arts Council England. Funding for the programme ends in 2012-13. We have put in place a package of cultural education initiatives in partnership with the Department for Education and our cultural sectors to improve the provision of cultural education in England.

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will assess the effects of the decision by England Athletics to increase registration fees for participation in grass roots athletics on participation in athletics by people living in deprived areas.

Hugh Robertson: England Athletics is currently undertaking a consultation looking directly at the issue of affiliation, including participation fees, with results expected early in the new year. They have an ongoing commitment to provide sporting opportunities for individuals in deprived areas, through their work with Street Games and through their Athletics Networks in communities across the country.

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of England Athletics.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England conducts regular six-monthly reviews and assessments of the national governing bodies it sponsors. These are underpinned through the Active People Survey, sports satisfaction survey as well as general internal sport measures. Sport England has advised that England Athletics is currently performing well against its participation targets and has a strong governance structure in place. Once a week participation in adults aged over 16 in athletics has grown from 2,809,300 (Active People Survey 5 2010-11) to 2,933,100 (Active People Survey 6 2011-12).

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many members of staff at England Athletics receive (a) a company car and (b) private medical insurance.

Hugh Robertson: Neither the Department nor Sport England records this information.

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the investment made by England Athletics to improve access to athletics for people from the most disadvantaged areas of England; and what assessment she has made of any change in athletics take-up resulting from that funding.

Hugh Robertson: As part of their investment into the sport, England Athletics works in communities across the country and takes seriously the issue of engaging with deprived communities. This can be seen through their work with Street Games as well as their commitment to work in communities throughout the country. Once a week participation in adults aged over 16 in athletics has grown from 2,809,300 (Active People Survey 5 2010-11) to 2,933,100 (Active People Survey 6 2011-12).

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of trends in participation in athletics under the stewardship of England Athletics.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England has advised that England Athletics is currently performing well against its participation targets. Through their measurement survey, Active People, Sport England have seen continued and positive growth in the sport, with 2,033,700 people participating in athletics regularly. Sport England will continue to assess the work being carried out by England Athletics to ensure that they continue to deliver value for money. Once a week participation in adults aged over 16 in athletics has grown from 2,809,300 (Active People Survey 5 2010-11) to 2,933,100 (Active People Survey 6 2011-12).

England Athletics

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will provide a breakdown of expenditure of the funds given to England Athletics by Sport England as a part of the commitment to deliver an Olympic legacy; how much of this funding has been spent on staff salaries to date; and if she will list the titles and roles of any additional posts provided for out of this additional funding.

Hugh Robertson: Over the period 2009-13 Sport England will invest £20 million directly into England Athletics through their Whole Sport Plan, and they will be announcing details of their funding agreement for 2013-17 shortly. In addition to this, Sport England have alternate funding streams available which athletics clubs are able to apply to. Neither the Department nor Sport England hold the additional information requested regarding England Athletics staff.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which EU directives her Department transposed in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which EU directives her Department expects to transpose in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such directive to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Hugh Robertson: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) In 2011, the Department transposed the following EU directives:
	Directive 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directives 2002/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, 2002/19/EC on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities, and 2002/20/EC on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services (“Better Regulation Directive”).
	Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 November 2009 amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on co-operation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (“Citizens Rights Directive”).
	(b) None.
	(i) and (ii) None expected at the current time.
	The Department does not record centrally the cost of transposing each such regulation, and to compile this data would incur disproportionate cost.
	In order to increase transparency, in the forthcoming Statement of New Regulation (SNR5) the Government will, for the first time, be publishing those new European Union (EU) measures which are being implemented in UK law and have a direct effect on business.

EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2013 and (ii) the next two years; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Hugh Robertson: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) Regulations introduced by DCMS as a result of EU legislation in 2011:
	Electronic Communications and Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1210); Communications Act 2003 (Maximum Penalty for Contravention of Information Requirements) Order 2011 (SI 2011/1773); Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1208); Electronic Communications (Universal Service) (Amendment) Order 2011 (SI 2011/1209).
	(b) None.
	(i) Regulations to be introduced by DCMS as a result of EU legislation in 2013:
	It is anticipated that regulations will be made to implement the EU Mobile Roaming Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union).
	(ii) Regulations to be introduced by DCMS as a result of EU legislation in the next two years:
	It is anticipated that regulations will be made to implement the E-Commerce Directive (Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market), in relation to offences relating to extreme pornography and threatening communications in Scotland, and various human trafficking offences across the UK.
	The Department does not record centrally the cost of implementing each such regulation, and to compile this data would incur disproportionate cost
	In order to increase transparency, in the forthcoming Statement of New Regulation (SNR5) the Government will, for the first time, be publishing those new European Union (EU) measures which are being implemented in UK law and have a direct effect on business.

Music: Children

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many children participate in each Music Education Hub.

Edward Vaizey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 November 2012, Official Report, column 819W.

Ofcom

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people (a) viewed Ofcom's new website on nuisance calls, texts and emails and (b) received or downloaded a copy of the new Consumer Guide between 1 October and 30 November 2012.

Edward Vaizey: The Office of Communications (Ofcom) have advised that their website page on nuisance calls, texts and e-mails has been viewed 43,259 times and their new Consumer Guide has been downloaded 4,351 times, since 1 October 2012. Ofcom's website also allows consumers to view individual pages offering information on different types of calls from abusive and scams calls to marketing calls, texts and silent calls. These individual pages have been viewed a total of 26,465 times.

Olympic Games 2012

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department has made in putting in place a solution so that London 2012 supplier companies can make reference to the work they have undertaken; and whether she expects this process to be complete by the end of 2012.

Hugh Robertson: Positive progress has been made in the discussions with the British Olympic Association and International Olympic Committee on a framework to give London 2012 suppliers greater freedom to promote their work on the Games. Our intention is to make an announcement shortly.

Pay

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in her Department in each of the last two years.

Edward Vaizey: The following table shows the payments the Department has made in (a) year-end performance related payments and (b) in-year reward payments, to employees in the last two years.
	
		
			 £ 
			  Year-end performance related payments In-year reward payments 
			 2012 600,710 45,750 
			 2011 710,703 63,350 
		
	
	The Department makes these payments to its employees for two purposes: (a) special payments made during the year to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and (b) performance related payments (PRP) to reward highly successful performance over a whole year. PRP are made in line with departmental pay strategy and Cabinet Office principles on performance-related pay.

Public Appointments

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many public appointments (a) regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and (b) not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments have been made by her Department since 2007; and in how many such cases the services of recruitment consultants were retained.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not hold centrally data on appointments which are not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. To compile this data for the period requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Appointments data before 2008-09 in the form requested is not held centrally by the Department but in the last four years, 247 new appointments, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, have been made; recruitment consultants were contracted for four of these.

Staff

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff she expects her Department to have in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Hugh Robertson: In the autumn of 2010, the Department launched a Change Programme that sought to achieve a 50% admin cost reduction to meet spending review targets and build the best possible Department with a highly motivated, diverse and talented work force. This would be done while simultaneously prioritising the Departments' critical deliverables, including the successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
	In order to achieve the required admin budget reduction, the Department sought to bear down on non-pay costs (including an office move to 100 Parliament street in March 2013) in order to minimise the impact on the Departments' pay bill. Where reductions have been made in staffing levels, these have been achieved through three rounds of voluntary exits, including a restructure of our senior civil servants (SCS). This has meant we will have a work force of approximately 330 FTE in 2013-14 with no further reductions in 2014-15.

Tourism: Marketing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the economic benefit to (a) hotels, (b) bed and breakfasts, (c) restaurants and bars and (d) the leisure and tourism industry in Britain of money spent on marketing the UK abroad.

Hugh Robertson: Through VisitBritain, we have created the biggest ever international tourism campaign, as we look to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by 2012. Together, the £100 million tactical marketing campaign and the GREAT Britain image campaign is aiming to deliver 4.6 million extra visitors and £2.3 billion additional spend over four years. An additional £30 million is being invested in the GREAT campaign for 2013-14, which comes on top of over £22 million already being invested during this financial year. VisitBritain activity delivered £503 million in incremental spend (financial year 2011-12) against a target of £373 million, plus bookings worth £89 million for their commercial partners. Initial evaluation results from the spring 2012 phase of the GREAT image campaign are positive. Britain saw the greatest increase in unprompted recall of advertising and “strong likelihood to visit within a year” compared to major competitors. If stated intentions translated into actual visits they could potentially generate £33 million to £72 million spend. The Department has not made an estimate of the economic benefit from marketing the UK abroad to the specific areas of the leisure and tourism industry requested.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Health Services

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will assess the adequacy of non-discriminatory medical care provided by each aid agency in receipt of funding from her Department to (a) women and girls who have been raped in situations of armed conflict and (b) such females seeking abortion services; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: Humanitarian assistance funded by DFID is provided according to humanitarian principles thus according to need and without discrimination.
	DFID provides funding to trusted humanitarian partners, whose performance and programme quality we assess regularly. Preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in conflict and humanitarian situations is a key objective of the UK's humanitarian policy.
	DFID's policy on safe abortion clearly states the UK is committed to improving women's health and reducing the number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth. Tackling unsafe abortion is part of this commitment.
	In countries where abortion is permitted, DFID can support programmes that make abortion safe and accessible, because access to safe abortion reduces recourse to unsafe abortion and saves maternal lives.

Developing Countries: Land

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will use the UK's 2013 G8 Presidency to promote global action to (a) increase the transparency of land acquisitions and land governance and (b) promote rights for the world's poorest people.

Alan Duncan: The Prime Minister announced his priorities for the UK's G8 presidency—trade, tax and transparency —on a visit to Northern Ireland on 20 November. These are issues where action by the G8 to “put its own house in order” can also help developing countries to prosper.
	The Prime Minister also wants to use the UK's G8 presidency to support the “golden thread” of conditions that enable open economies and open societies to drive prosperity and growth for all. These include the rule of law, the absence of conflict and corruption, and the presence of property rights and strong institutions.
	The UK's presidency begins on 1 January 2013.

Developing Countries: Land

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make representations to the World Bank on instituting a six-month freeze on agricultural lending to fund large-scale land acquisitions in order that the Bank can review its current policies on such loans and their links to land grabbing.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government believes that private sector investment in poor countries, and the growth of small and large commercial agriculture, are key to global food security and economic growth in Africa. When done well, commercial investments in agriculture have the potential to be transformational. But it is vital that the rights and interests of the people living on the land are taken into account.
	The need for responsible investment also applies to investments supported by the World Bank. The UK Government supports the World Bank work on land and welcomes the efforts the Bank is making to be more transparent in its land programmes. We believe that a six-month freeze on agricultural lending could potentially disrupt many valuable projects and create uncertainty over the World Bank's engagement in this area.

Developing Countries: Law and Order

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the role law enforcement organisations can play in international development.

Alan Duncan: The role of law enforcement organisations is central to achieving progress in building effective security and justice systems. This, in turn, protects the rights of citizens, promotes the rule of law and prevents violent conflict. Effective law enforcement is one of the key enablers for growth and good governance, contributing to the “golden thread” that runs through successful development stories across the world.
	The UK is increasing its support for security and justice in 18 countries, working with state (such as police and judiciary) and non-state actors (informal, often community-based authorities such as village chiefs and other traditional leaders).
	The UK's own law enforcement organisations also play a role in supporting law enforcement in developing countries; for example, to tackle corruption.

Indonesia

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department has available for projects such as the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation.

Alan Duncan: DFID has no plans to provide assistance to the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation. Since April 2011, DFID's engagement in Indonesia has been focused on climate change through the interdepartmental UK Climate Change Unit (UKCCU).

Mali

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid her Department has given to Mali in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: Information on the amount of UK aid provided to Mali over each of the past five years can be found in table 14.1 at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/Statistics-on-International-Development-2012/

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of increased air passenger duty on jobs and growth.

Sajid Javid: The Government has limited the rise in air passenger duty (APD) to inflation over the period 2010-11 to 2012-13. Budget 2012 set out rates from April 2013, which will also only rise by RPI, ensuring that level of APD will remain constant in real terms.
	The 2011 consultation gathered extensive views and evidence from stakeholders, which included views on the impact of APD. Over 500 responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders. The Government published its response to the consultation, including a summary of views received, on 6 December 2011.

Broadband

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what methodology he used to calculate the £3.5 billion estimated receipt from the 4G spectrum sale as outlined in page 56, Table 2.1 of the autumn statement 2012; and if he will place a copy of that methodology in the Library.

Danny Alexander: The estimated value of receipts from the 4G spectrum auction was produced by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The policy costing note, published at autumn statement 2012, indicates that the OBE’s costing of 4G auction receipts is based upon:
	“independent analysis of revenues from comparable spectrum auctions outside the UK, and the increasing economic value of spectrum underpinned by the high level of anticipated competition in the commercial marketplace”:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2012_policy_costings.pdf p.38.

Business: Loans

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 164W, on banks, what recent discussions he has had with (a) private non-financial corporations and (b) monetary financial institutions on the use of their currency holdings and deposits to lend to British businesses and fund infrastructure projects; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The Government continues to explore a range of options to increase the flow of credit to businesses including the Funding for Lending scheme and the Business Finance Partnership. As set out in the update to the National Infrastructure Plan on 5 December, the Government also undertakes a number of initiatives to maintain the level of private investment into infrastructure. As part of this process of policy development and delivery, Treasury Ministers and officials invite discussions with a wide range of institutions and commercial parties to shape these initiatives and interventions.

Charities: Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the extent of compliance by UK charities with the European Council decision of 16 June 2005 on the abolition of financial and tax subsidies to organisations benefiting from developing Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	Evidence of misuse of charity funds, or any illegal activities by charities in England and Wales, they should be passed to the Charity Commission to consider.

Child Benefit

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the anticipated revenue that will be raised per financial year due to the change to the high income child benefit scheduled to take effect in 2013.

David Gauke: The latest published anticipated revenue from the high income child benefit charge is set out in Table 2.1 (line 2) and Table 2.2 (line al) of the Budget 2012 document:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_complete.pdf
	The Office for National Statistics has since classified part of this revenue as tax.

Child Trust Fund

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what timetable he has set for the evaluation of the future of child trust funds.

Sajid Javid: The Government keeps this issue under review on an ongoing basis.

Credit Unions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who were members of a credit union in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: The Government do not hold information on numbers of credit unions members.

Economic and Monetary Union

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the financial value of the UK being part of the EU single market.

Greg Clark: We do not hold estimates of the financial value of the UK being part of the EU single market. The Government maintains the view that membership of the Single Market is still in the best interests of the UK.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of his Department's estimate of the cost of employee owner status consists of (a) capital gains tax revenue foregone and (b) other revenue foregone to the public purse; and what the breakdown is of those amounts.

David Gauke: Details of the estimate are given in the Policy Costings document published by the Government in Autumn Statement 2012, with the following link:
	Policy Costings (page 27):
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2012_policy_costings.pdf

Ford Motor Company

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his role, responsibilities and duties as a governor of the European Investment Bank are in deciding on the Bank's participation in financing operations outside the EU, including in relation to specific loans; and how these were exercised in relation to the European Investment Bank loan to Ford Otosan.

Greg Clark: The approval of loans and guarantees is the responsibility of the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank.

Gift Aid: Nefesh B'nefesh

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much gift aid has been claimed on donations made by UK taxpayers to Nefesh B'Nefesh through the Jewish National Fund in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: I am unable to answer the question because HM Revenue and Customs is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality in relation to customer information.
	HM Revenue and Customs, may not disclose customer information outside the Department without the permission of the customer, except where there is specific legislation permitting the disclosure.

Income Tax: Overpayments

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time HM Revenue and Customs took to refund an overpayment of income tax once the overpayment had been identified was in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) on 4 April 2011, Official Report, column 728W.

Infrastructure

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the first major infrastructure projects in receipt of the major infrastructure guarantee to be completed.

Danny Alexander: Discussions on any infrastructure project guaranteed under the UK Guarantees scheme are commercially confidential and exempt from disclosure. Releasing information is likely to have a detrimental impact on the formulation and development of government policy and undermine the Government’s negotiating position during negotiations resulting in less effective use of public funds.
	We cannot answer this question further without prejudicing the process of ongoing policy formulation.

Infrastructure

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 167W, on infrastructure, what the 10 largest infrastructure projects proposed by Departments to the Exchequer are which have not yet secured Treasury approval for funding.

Danny Alexander: At autumn statement, 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, the Government announced a £5.5 billion investment in infrastructure, including £1.5 billion for roads.
	The Government will set out detailed plans for spending in 2015-16 in the first half of next year—which will include further decisions on capital spending. Additional spending decisions will be taken as part of the next spending review.
	We cannot answer this question further without prejudicing the process of ongoing policy formulation. Releasing this information is likely to have a detrimental impact on the formulation and development of government policy.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to his Autumn Statement, what additional resources he intends to provide to local enterprise partnerships.

Danny Alexander: The Government will provide £10 million per year for capacity building within LEPs. Each LEP will be able to apply for up to £250,000 additional funding per year to support the development and delivery of their strategic plan.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in capital allowances announced in the 2012 Budget on the growth of the market for low carbon vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: At Budget 2012, the Government announced that it would extend the 100% first-year allowance (FYA) for businesses purchasing low emissions cars for a further two years, until 31 March 2015. The Government also announced that the capital allowances emissions thresholds would be updated in line with forthcoming European Union targets and that leased cars would no longer be eligible for the FYA.
	These changes will take effect from April 2013 and it is too early to evaluate their impact on the market for low emission cars. However, a draft tax information and impact note was published on 11 December;
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/finance_bill_2013_consultation.htm
	It is expected that the changes will ensure that, in the context of falling emissions, the capital allowances system continues to provide an incentive for businesses to purchase the most environmentally-friendly business cars.
	The decision not to apply the renewed FYA to leased cars is consistent with the Government's wider capital allowances policy and is designed to ensure that the FYA maximises value-for-money in terms of the environmental benefit it brings to the UK.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department informed the Office for Budget Responsibility of the potential £270 million remediation to Northern Rock customers when it became aware of the effect on the public finances.

Greg Clark: As set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) Economic and Fiscal outlook, the OBR projections were based on figures from business plans provided by UK Asset Resolution. The details of the remediation costs were not in the public domain when the OBR published their forecast and, as a result, the OBR were unable to incorporate it into their projections.

Northern Rock

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 11 December 2012, on financial services, if he will give the date on which (a) he and (b) his officials were made aware of the proposal by UK Asset Resolution to remediate the interest charges for affected customers of Northern Rock Asset Management.

Sajid Javid: The UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) Board formally notified UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) of its proposal on 5 December. Ministers were made aware of the proposal on the same day. The UKAR proposal was agreed by UKFI in a letter to UKAR on 10 December. UKFI sought and was granted Treasury approval on 10 December.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers are taking part in the PAYE Real Time Information pilot scheme; and how many employees he expects to be taking part in the scheme by March 2013.

David Gauke: Over 24,000 PAYE schemes are now taking part in the PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) pilot. HMRC expects to have 6 million employments in PAYE RTI by March 2013.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 3 December 2012, Official Report, column 596W, on PAYE, by what date HM Revenue and Customs matched 6,441,719 hashes received in real-time information submissions against hashes from the BACS payment system.

David Gauke: HMRC matched 6,441,719 hashes by 29 November 2012.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs is checking the accuracy of data submitted in the real time information pilot for individual PAYE records where it is not possible to hash match.

David Gauke: HMRC are working closely with those involved in the real time information (RTI) pilot to ensure the information submitted is in line with the published RTI guidance. As part of this, HMRC will be liaising with software providers to ensure that payroll software generates the hash cross reference in the correct way. HMRC will also carry out risk-based compliance activity to help ensure that data submitted in real time is accurate.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual PAYE records from the real time information pilot (a) have and (b) have not been hash matched in each month since the pilot started.

David Gauke: The numbers of hashes matched and not matched in each month of the RTI pilot are as follows:
	
		
			 2012 Matched hashes Number of records submitted containing a hash that wasn't matched 
			 April 2,193 87,888 
			 May 99,264 577,174 
			 June 747,217 828,226 
			 July 1,091,365 200,638 
			 August 1,307,797 239,494 
			 September 1,209,276 348,078 
			 October 1,453502 273,895 
		
	
	
		
			 November 1,544,683 526,608 
		
	
	There are a variety of reasons why RTI submissions may not be matched to a hash cross reference received from the payment system.
	Hashes received for schemes that have recently joined the RTI system cannot be matched where the PAYE scheme is still going through the RTI alignment process. HMRC have also identified that in some cases hash cross references are being included in RTI submissions where the employer is not paying their employees under a BACS Service User Number. Hash matching is not possible in these cases. HMRC is using the RTI pilot to refine its guidance to employers and software developers about hash matching.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many hashes from the payment system have been matched to real time information (RTI) data from employers in each month since the start of the PAYE RTI pilot.

David Gauke: The numbers of hashes matched in each month of the RTI pilot are as follows:
	
		
			 2012 Matched hashes 
			 April 2,193 
			 May 99,264 
			 June 747,217 
			 July 1,091,365 
			 August 1,307,797 
			 September 1,209,276 
			 October 1,453,502 
			 November 1,544,683

Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of senior civil servants have left (a) his Department and (b) each of the public bodies for which he is responsible since May 2010; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each such body since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Senior civil service leavers May 2010 to October 2012 
			 Group Leavers May 2010 to March 2011 Turnover as percentage of SCS May 2010 to March 2011 Leavers April 2011 to March 2012 Turnover as percentage of SCS April 2011 to March 2012 Leavers April 2012 to October 2012 Turnover as percentage of SCS April 2012 to October 2012 Total leavers 
			 HM Treasury 20 17 18 18 14 16 52 
			 Asset Protection Agency 2 30 2 38 1 41 5 
			 Debt Management Office 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 
			 Office for Budget Responsibility 0 — 0 — 0 — 0 
			 Note: Asset Protection Agency closed down as at the end of October 2012 and therefore this has distorted their results.

Stocks and Shares

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will establish a body for the supervision of securities trading with similar powers of proactive investigation and wide-ranging enforcement to those of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Greg Clark: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) already regulates securities trading and the listing of securities, under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and has wide-ranging powers of investigation and enforcement under that legislation. These responsibilities will pass to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when the Government's regulatory reforms in the Financial Services Bill come into effect on 1 April 2013.
	The Financial Services Bill will improve the FSA's/FCA's powers in relation to official listing including by: allowing the FCA to discontinue or suspend a listing at the request of an issuer without following the statutory notice procedure; extending powers to impose sanctions on sponsors in relation to certain contraventions; allowing the FCA to make and enforce requirements applicable to persons approved as primary information providers.

Tax Avoidance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to end the practice whereby people living abroad and with non-domiciliary status who claim only to be living in the UK temporarily can avoid inheritance tax by buying a house in the name of an offshore entity; and for what reason that is considered to be a tax-free holding in a foreign company rather than a British asset.

David Gauke: Property and other assets outside the UK owned by an individual who is not domiciled in the UK are not included in an estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. This is to encourage individuals who wish to temporarily live and work in the UK to do so by ensuring their worldwide estate does not become liable for IHT in the case of their untimely death. For IHT purposes, only UK assets held directly by non-domiciled individuals are considered. However, if a non-UK domiciled, individual holds shares in an overseas company, the assets owned by that company are not taken into account regardless of where they are situated.
	Changing this approach would introduce a significant alteration in IHT tax rules for non-domiciled individuals. The Government has made a commitment that, there will be no further changes to the non-domiciled tax rules for the remainder of this Parliament.
	However, the Government is taking steps to ensure owners of high value property pay their fair share of tax. This includes:
	an annual residential property tax on residential properties valued over £2 million owned by certain non-natural persons, such as certain offshore entities, from April 2013;
	a 15% rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential properties over £2 million purchased by certain non-natural persons; and
	the extension of Capital Gains Tax to disposals by non-resident non natural persons of high value UK residential property from 6 April 2013.

Tax Evasion

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, columns 175-6W, on tax evasion, by what means HM Revenue and Customs assesses the effectiveness of additional or fewer staff in each area of the Department; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: HMRC's approach to tackling tax evasion is published:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget-updates/march2012/tax-evasion-report.pdf
	HMRC ensures that business areas are resourced to deliver HMRC strategy, using the funding allocated to the department by the Government in the most effective way. Within HMRC, activity to tackle tax evasion is primarily carried out by the Enforcement and Compliance business area.
	HMRC collects management information on resources deployed and the total revenue raised from different compliance activities. The effectiveness of additional or fewer staff is assessed using a combination of management information, operational intelligence and planning scenarios informed by a resource allocation model which compares the return from different activities and the impact of different case mixes on revenues. The model is used to estimate the potential impact of different resourcing levels and to inform resource allocation decisions.
	The effectiveness of HMRC compliance activity is seen in its results. HMRC has achieved significant successes in reducing both evasion and avoidance. Overall, compliance revenues have more than doubled in six years. In 2010-11 the total revenue from HMRC compliance activities was reported as £13.9 billion; in 2011-12 it was reported as £16.7 billion.

Tax Evasion

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, columns 175-76W, on tax evasion, how much HM Revenue and Customs has paid out in rewards for information on tax evasion in each of the last five years in aggregate; and what the range of the individual rewards in each year was.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs are empowered to pay rewards by virtue of section 26 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. These payments are discretionary and are not guaranteed.
	In each of the last five years, HM Revenue and Customs has paid the following total amounts in rewards:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2007-08 155,950 
			 2008-09 281,000 
			 2009-10 384,110 
			 2010-11 309,620 
			 2011-12 373,780 
		
	
	I can confirm that HM Revenue and Customs holds some information relating to the range of individual awards paid in each of the same five years. However, this is exempt from disclosure because of section 44(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which allows a public authority to withhold information which is itself prohibited from disclosure by some enactment.

Temporary Employment: Tax Avoidance

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  (a) how many and (b) which employment agencies or umbrella companies operating travel and subsistence schemes have been awarded dispensations to operate such schemes by HM Revenue and Customs;
	(2)  how many employment agencies or umbrella companies that have received dispensations to operate travel and subsistence schemes have been audited to verify that they are fulfilling the conditions of the dispensation.

David Gauke: HMRC does not issue dispensations to businesses to operate travel and subsistence schemes.
	HMRC issues dispensations to cover certain payments of expenses for which an employee would otherwise get a full tax deduction. It is a mechanism which removes the need for an employer to report the relevant expenses payments on forms P11D or P9D and also removes the need for tax to be paid on those expenses and then reclaimed. Expenses payments covered by a dispensation are normally also disregarded for national insurance contributions (NICs) purposes.
	HMRC reviews all dispensations regularly to ensure that the terms and conditions under which they are issued still apply. They have a specialist team which reviews dispensations for those operating in the temporary labour market to ensure consistency.

VAT: Imports

Simon Hart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make representations to the European Commission and other member states in support of an increase in the limit set for goods imported into the EU which are exempt from VAT under Council Directive 2006/79/EC.

David Gauke: When deciding where to set the threshold for this import VAT relief on small non-commercial consignments, careful consideration has to be given to balancing the tax impact on individuals, with the impact on small UK businesses who are required to account for VAT on similar goods regardless of their value. As there is no evidence that the current threshold is causing difficulties to individuals, whereas there is recent clear evidence that a high import relief threshold has an adverse impact on small businesses, the UK has no plans to raise this issue with the European Commission.

Welfare Tax Credits: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people in Warrington North constituency are in receipt of working tax credit;
	(2)  how many people (a) in full-time work, (b) in part-time work and (c) not in paid employment in Warrington North constituency are in receipt of child tax credits.

Sajid Javid: As at 1 April 2012 in Warrington North constituency, there were 6,000 adults in 4,400 families in receipt of working tax credit.
	As at 1 April 2012 in Warrington North constituency, there were 13,300 adults in 8,400 families in receipt of child tax credit. Of these, there were:
	(a) 5,700 adults working 30+ hours (full-time),
	(b) 2,700 adults working 16 to 30 hours (part-time work), and,
	(c) 4,900 adults either working less than 16 hours or not in paid employment.

Young People

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has carried out (a) a risk analysis and (b) an equality impact assessment of the potential effect on children and young people of reductions to Government budgets and welfare provision; what information in each such analysis and assessment relates to children and young people aged up to 19 years old in Liverpool; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any such assessment and analysis.

Sajid Javid: This Government is supporting children and young people including by offering 15 hours free child care to all three to four-year-olds and to 260,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds; providing a pupil premium for disadvantaged pupils worth £2.5 billion by 2014-15; and by extending child care support through the universal credit.
	Departments have the responsibility to meet all their legal requirements on considering equality impacts, including for the protected characteristic of age, when making spending decisions.
	The Government publishes its assessment of the overall distributional impact on households of policy decisions at fiscal events. In doing so, the Government has taken unprecedented steps to increase transparency and to enable the effective scrutiny of policy making. This analysis was most recently published at autumn statement 2012 in the autumn statement document: ‘Impact on households: distributional analysis to accompany the Autumn Statement’.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Ascension Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to promote tourism on Ascension Island.

Mark Simmonds: Ascension is a working island, with important military facilities, and no right of abode. A small number of tourists visit Ascension Island each year, usually en-route to St Helena. But there is limited infrastructure and services to support these visits. There are therefore no plans to promote tourism in Ascension.

Ascension Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people have been arrested on Ascension Island in each of the last three years.

Mark Simmonds: The numbers of arrests made on Ascension Island in the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of arrests 
			 2008 11 
			 2009 11 
			 2010 5 
			 2011 4 
			 2012 12

Ascension Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for permits to visit Ascension Island have been refused in each of the last three years.

Mark Simmonds: The numbers of refused entry permit applications to Ascension Island in the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 (1)— 
			 2011 2 
			 2012 9 
			 (1) Due to administrative changes no records exist for 2010 or earlier.

Ascension Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many tourist permits have been issued for Ascension Island in each of the last three years.

Mark Simmonds: The numbers of Ascension Island tourist permits issued in the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010 755 
			 2011 914 
			 2012 (to date) 950

Ascension Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to modernise transport infrastructure on Ascension Island.

Mark Simmonds: The Ascension Island Government is working to improve the transport infrastructure on the Island. Work is currently under way to upgrade an 8 km section of road. Discussions are to begin shortly on the island to prioritise future projects such as road infrastructure and improvements to the pier-head, which rely on contributions from the employing organisations on the island. In addition, a bus service is being introduced from the beginning of February 2013 on a trial basis, which it is hoped may become a permanent fixture depending on the level of demand. Financing and managing the transport infrastructure is a major challenge on Ascension Island given the small population and the significant costs associated with bringing building materials to the island.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on whether the Bahraini government is implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.

Alistair Burt: 1 have seen reports giving assessments of progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, from both independent non-governmental organisations and the Bahraini Government's own Department tasked with implementing the recommendations. As I said in my statement of 23 November 2012, the UK recognises that establishing the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry was an unprecedented and positive response to the unrest which hit Bahrain in spring 2011. Much progress has been made, but it is also clear that there are areas where progress on implementation has been too slow and others where it is lacking.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) recently visited Bahrain and meet representatives of the Bahraini Government. He discussed the need for full and timely implementation of their reform programme, and of all the recommendations of the Independent Commission report. We remain of the opinion that reform and a meaningful dialogue between all sides in Bahrain is necessary for stability and prosperity to return to the country.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the repeated arrests of Zainab al-Khawaja in Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of reports of the most recent arrest of Ms Zainab al-Khawaja in Bahrain. Although we cannot intervene in the legal proceedings of another state, we monitor all the key trials in Bahrain. We have urged the authorities to follow due process in all cases and ensure those charged have access to legal representation.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he raised human rights concerns with the Bahraini government on his recent visit to the Kingdom.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), did raise human rights with both the King and the Crown Prince of Bahrain on his recent visit there.
	We consistently raise our concerns on human rights in Bahrain with the Bahraini Government, discussing the issue frankly and openly.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: I have not discussed the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) with my US counterpart. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and State Department Officials have regular discussions about all bilateral matters including the British Indian Ocean Territory. The most recent BIOT Pol-Mil annual talks were held in London in October.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to develop the infrastructure of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: The UK has no plans to develop the infrastructure of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Colombia

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the proposal by the Colombian Government to widen the jurisdiction of the military courts in Colombia.

Hugo Swire: The proposed reform to Colombia's constitution aims to improve the efficiency and independence of the military justice system, and to reform the types of cases which will be judged under that system.
	We have underlined to Defence Minister Pinzón the importance that the reform should not lead to impunity for members of the Colombian armed forces and I have also raised the issue with the Colombian ambassador. On 9 December our chargé d’affaires discussed the issue with the Vice Minister for Multi-Lateral Affairs, highlighting the need for constructive dialogue.
	Both the Defence Minister and Colombian ambassador have assured us that the reform will not lead to impunity, and that any cases of extrajudicial executions will be investigated under the civilian justice system. We will continue discussing the proposed reform with the Colombian Government.

Colombia

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Colombia about securing the safety of Congressman Ivan Cepeda following the death threat he received on 23 November 2012.

Hugo Swire: We are concerned about reports of a threat made against Congressman Ivan Cepeda, who is an active human rights defender representing the organisations Movimiento Nacional de Victimas de Crímenes de Estado (MOVICE) and Colombians for Peace. Any threat made against the life of a human rights defender is unacceptable. Our embassy in Bogota will raise this case with the Colombian Government.
	Our embassy has implemented a high-profile programme of activities to support human rights defenders under threat, including a project to increase their awareness of the protection measures available and meetings with threatened organisations to demonstrate UK support. In a joint statement on human rights in November 2011 both the Prime Minister and President Santos condemned violence against human rights defenders and emphasised their support for the work they do.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to press the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to implement peacebuilding and stabilisation programmes in that country.

Mark Simmonds: Since the recent outbreak of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began, we have made it clear that while external support for armed groups in DRC must stop, it is also important that the DRC Government shows leadership in addressing the underlying causes of conflict in the region. The Prime Minister delivered this message when he spoke to President Kabila on 22 November, as did I when I visited the region from 20-23 November and met President Kabila, Prime Minister Matata and Foreign Minister Tshibanda. I spoke to Mr Tshibanda again on 10 December. Our ambassador in Kinshasa and other senior officials have also delivered this message, and will continue to do so.

Egypt

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he made to the Egyptian authorities on preventing the smuggling of arms into Gaza through the Sinai.

William Hague: The Government welcomes the Egyptian-led ceasefire in the recent Gaza crisis. We have made clear to the Egyptian authorities our full support to Egypt’s efforts to tackle the flow of illegal weaponry from the Sinai into the Gaza strip. I discussed the terms of the ceasefire and weapons smuggling with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Kamel Amr, on 21 November.

Iraq

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support reform and development initiatives in Iraq.

Alistair Burt: Enhancing internal stability is an important element of our Iraq strategy, and the UK has funded a number of projects to strengthen the rule of law and improve the justice system in Iraq. We are also funding a multi-year project to strengthen parliamentary oversight of the government's actions by building the capacity of parliamentary scrutiny committees. Further information on our project activity can be found on the British embassy in Baghdad's website:
	http://ukiniraq.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-iraq/Projects
	The Department for International Development ended its bilateral development programme to Iraq in March 2012. The UK will continue to help Iraq address some of the challenges which remain, through our funding to multilateral organisations like the UN, the World Bank and the EU.

Israel

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2012, Official Report, column 231, on Israel, whether he has received any recent updates on the situation with the Bedouin villages in the Negev; and whether the British embassy has taken any steps in this regard since the ambassador's visit.

Alistair Burt: During my recent visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I met with Israeli Minister Benny Begin on 21 November to ask for an update on Israeli Government plans regarding the Bedouin villages in the Negev. I reiterated our hope that consultations between the Israeli Government and the Bedouin community will lead to an agreed and satisfactory solution to the long-standing problems of the unrecognised villages.
	On 17 August, our ambassador in Tel Aviv met with the Israeli Prime Minister's Chief of Staff for Bedouin Status Improvement. He asked for an update on the plan and said that we would have real concerns if there were a large number of forced evictions.
	Our officials in Tel Aviv continue to monitor the situation in the Negev in relation to both Bedouin unrecognised and recognised villages and are in regular contact with Bedouin and government leaders.

Middle East

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to encourage Israel and the Palestinian Authority to restart peace talks.

William Hague: As I made clear on 30 October 2012, Official Report, column 148, we are asking the new US Administration to lead a major push, backed by European nations, to restart negotiations in 2013 and arrive at a two state solution. The Prime Minister has discussed this issue with his European counterparts, including the French President and German Chancellor.
	We continue to make our view on the urgent need for credible negotiations, based on clear parameters, clear to both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This includes both ministerial and official level contacts. I spoke to Defence Secretary Barak on 1 December and to President Abbas on 26 November. The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke to President Abbas on 27 November.

North Korea

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he plans to take following the successful rocket launch by north Korea on 12 December 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: Following north Korea’s satellite launch on 12 December 2012, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), immediately issued a statement condemning the launch. The statement can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-condemns-dprk-s-satellite-launch
	On the same day, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Permanent Under-Secretary summoned the north Korean ambassador to the Foreign Office. In this meeting, the Permanent Under-Secretary reiterated the UK’s condemnation of this launch, urged north Korea to refrain from further provocations and to take urgent steps to re-engage constructively with the international community.
	The UK attended a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on 12 December 2012. The Security Council issued a statement condemning the launch which the UK supported. The UK is now discussing what further measures could be taken in response to the launch with other members of the Security Council.

Occupied Territories

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed the expansion of Israeli settlements with his Israeli counterparts.

William Hague: I spoke to Defence Minister Barak on 1 December 2012 to underline the Government's deep concern at reports that the Israeli Cabinet had approved the building of 3,000 new settlement units in east Jerusalem and the west bank and decided to unfreeze planning in the area known as E1. I also passed a message underlining these points to the Israeli Foreign Minister.
	The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), formally summoned the Israeli ambassador to London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 3 December 2012, to make our concerns known.
	Our embassy in Tel Aviv continue to engage on these issues.

Palestinians

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will condemn the decision of the Israeli Government to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.

Alistair Burt: I have made very clear that we deplore the Israeli Government's decisions to withhold tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority, build 3,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem and the west bank, to unfreeze planning in the area known as E1. We have called on the Israeli Government to reverse these decisions.
	I formally summoned the Israeli ambassador to London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 3 December, to underline the depth of our concerns over these steps.

Palestinians

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Israeli Government on the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children.

Alistair Burt: I have written to the Israeli ambassador to the UK on this subject and have met Baroness Scotland, as one of the authors, to discuss follow up to the report “Children in military custody” and our concerns over the treatment of Palestinian children in military custody.
	Our ambassador to Israel has also discussed these points with the Israeli Attorney-General and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most recently the Attorney-General continued this dialogue when he visited Israel in mid-November and held talks with his Israeli counterpart.

Russia

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support civil society organisations in the Russian Federation.

David Lidington: The promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law is at the heart of Britain's foreign policy. Human rights is a priority area in our bilateral relationship with Russia and supporting the development of a strong civil society forms a key part of this. The Prime Minister met human rights activists at the Sakharov Centre in Moscow during his visit in September 2011. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and I regularly raise human rights and civil society issues with our Russian counterparts. We also fluid a number of projects that help develop Russian civil society including supporting independent media, vulnerable journalists, human rights defenders, judicial reform and initiatives aimed at strengthening the rule of law. We have regular direct contact with human rights activists, and provide support to those who are subject to harassment. We have made statements that demonstrate our concern about constraints on democracy, such as the new law on NGOs in receipt of foreign funding.
	One of the most valuable platforms for raising both ongoing and new concerns with Russia is at our senior level Human Rights Dialogues. At the 2012 meeting, there was a detailed exchange with Russian counterparts on a range of issues, including new restrictive legislation, the North Caucasus, freedom of assembly and expression, the protection of human rights defenders and journalists, and the Magnitsky case. We also report publicly on human rights in Russia through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights and Democracy Report, where Russia is listed as a country of concern.

Russia

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether human rights in the Russian Federation were discussed during the recent visit of the Minister of State for Trade and Investment to Moscow.

David Lidington: My noble Friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint’s visit to Moscow, to explore opportunities for UK companies, did not directly cover human rights. The rule of law and business environment were discussed. Lord Green had meetings with First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov and Finance Minister Siluanov. Siluanov gave assurances that foreign businesses could be confident in the Russian Government’s commitment to create a stable and predictable trading environment, emphasised by Russia’s World Trade Organisation accession. We believe that responsible businesses contribute to respect for human rights. They can set standards of behaviour, improve governance, remove incentives to abuse, maximise skills and strengthen communities.
	The Prime Minister raised human rights issues, including concerns around the Pussy Riot case and its impact on the development of democracy in Russia, with President Putin during their meeting on 2 August. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and I regularly raise human rights and civil society issues with Russian counterparts. Human rights is a priority area in our bilateral relationship with Russia, and we will continue to confront issues and push for progress on human rights and the rule of law, including at the highest levels. One of the most valuable platforms for raising ongoing and new concerns with Russia is at our senior level human rights dialogues. At the 2012 meeting, there was a detailed exchange with Russian counterparts on a range of issues, including new restrictive legislation, the North Caucasus, freedom of assembly and expression, the protection of human rights defenders and journalists, and the Magnitsky case. We also report publicly on human rights in Russia through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights and Democracy Report, where Russia is a country of concern.

Special Representative for Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2012, Official Report, column 563W, on climate change: international co-operation, what progress has been made since July 2012 towards an appointment of a new Special Representative for Climate Change; whether there has been a delay in the recruitment to this post and what the reasons are for any such delay; when he expects to announce the successful candidate; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has said, climate change poses a fundamental threat to Britain’s prosperity and security. This threat can only be tackled through international co-operation and collaboration. The Special Representative for Climate Change has a central role within Britain’s diplomatic response to the threat. It is important we find the right person and a recruitment process is under way to appoint a new special representative. A new special representative will be announced soon. In the meantime, the FCO continues to work for British interests in this field through its Climate Change and Energy Department and global network of overseas missions and diplomats.

Sri Lanka

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the post-conflict situation in Sri Lanka; and whether such considerations will inform decisions as to UK representation at the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo.

Alistair Burt: The British Government continues to have concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka. We seek to promote progress through direct lobbying, working with international partners, and funding human rights projects. We also regularly urge the Sri Lankan Government to improve the human rights situation, to investigate infringements of human rights, and prosecute those responsible.
	We believe that reconciliation and lasting peace in Sri Lanka can best be achieved through an inclusive political solution that addresses the underlying causes of the conflict and takes into account the legitimate grievances and aspirations of all Sri Lanka's communities. We believe that the Sri Lankan people should decide what form this solution should take.
	It is too early to confirm UK attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in 2013. We will look to Sri Lanka, as any other CHOGM host, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Commonwealth values of good governance and respect for human rights.

Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is considering to bring an end to the violence in Syria; and what recent discussions on this matter he has had with his international counterparts.

Alistair Burt: The UK continues to work with its international partners in an effort to bring an end to the violence in Syria. The UK is focusing its efforts on supporting and providing practical assistance to the opposition National Coalition which represents a credible alternative to the Assad regime. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), updated the House on 20 November 2012, Official Report, columns 443-46, and highlighted the steps the British Government is taking to help bring an end to the violence and create a stable environment to enable a political transition to a more democratic Syria.
	The Secretary of State regularly meets with his international counterparts to discuss Syria, most recently at the Friends of Syria meeting held in Marrakech on 12 December 2012. The meeting resulted in further recognition and practical assistance to the National Coalition, and further pledging humanitarian support to alleviate immediate suffering. The UK will continue to work with international partners and the National Coalition to help bring an end to the violence and on transition to a stable, democratic Syria.

Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the present rate of defections from the Syrian army, and of steps that could be taken by the international community to encourage such defections.

Alistair Burt: The lack of independent reporting from Syria makes it difficult to assess the present rate of desertions from the Syrian military and to know how many are defecting to the ranks of the opposition, but we have reports that desertions and defections are having an impact on the regime's ability to conduct its military operations. The regime has progressively increased the use of heavy weaponry, including artillery attacks from fighter aircraft and most recently scud missiles.
	After many months of brutal military repression, we believe Assad should step aside in the interests of the Syrian people. The UK has been at the forefront of international efforts to support the internal and external opposition to become a viable and political alternative to the Assad regime and we welcome the recent establishment of the National Coalition. The UK has so far provided the opposition with £7 million of practical non-lethal support as they seek to secure a better future for Syrian people, and a future free from indiscriminate attacks from their own Government. We hope this will further encourage those who currently support Assad to step away from him.

Turkey

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Turkey about press freedom.

David Lidington: The Deputy Prime Minister raised the issue of freedom of expression with the Turkish Prime Minister on a visit to Turkey in October. I regularly discuss human rights issues including freedom of expression in meetings with my Turkish counterpart, Egemen Bagis, the Turkish Minister for European Union Affairs, most recently at a meeting in October.
	The UK Government shares the concerns expressed by our EU partners surrounding press freedom in Turkey, which were reflected in the Conclusions of the General Affairs Council on 11 December. The Turkish Government has recognised the need for reform and we welcome their proposed fourth judicial reform package. We hope this can be implemented quickly.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has for future funding of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team investigation in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mark Simmonds: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him, on 11 December 2012, Official Report, column 228W.

Western Sahara

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2012, Official Report, column 104W, on Western Sahara, what recent progress his Department have made on negotiations to ensure that money received in respect of fishing opportunities is used for the benefit of the local population.

Alistair Burt: The UK fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Western Sahara, Ambassador Christopher Ross, to encourage Morocco and the Polisario Front to address issues regarding the use of the territory's natural resources.
	The latest round of negotiations on a new protocol to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement took place on 8-9 November between the European Commission and Morocco but negotiations are ongoing. We continue to call on Morocco to produce evidence that the agreement is conducted to the benefit of the people of Western Sahara.

Zimbabwe

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK citizens in receipt of a disability pension from the Government of Zimbabwe.

Mark Simmonds: We do not hold records of the number of British citizens receiving a disability pension from the Government of Zimbabwe. Our embassy has contacted the pensions department in Zimbabwe with regard to this matter, but they have not been able to provide us with an answer to date.
	The Overseas Services Pensioners Association estimate there are approximately 1,250 to 1,500 people worldwide who are entitled to a pension from the Government of Zimbabwe, of whom 300 to 400 are estimated to be resident in the UK.
	We are aware there have been issues of non-payment of pensions by the Zimbabwe Government to pensioners residing overseas, including through our contacts with the Overseas Service Pensions Association, who I met on 10 December to discuss this issue. We have for many years and will continue to make representations, through our embassy in Harare, to the Government of Zimbabwe on the importance of fulfilling their legal responsibilities to former public servants who are entitled to a Zimbabwe Government pension.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Rented Housing: South-east

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the availability and cost of rented housing in local authority areas which border London.

Don Foster: The 2011 census shows that 24.4% of households in Slough rent privately compared with 16.8% across England.
	For Slough, the Valuation Office Agency last week published an indicative median rent of £750 a month in the 12 months to September 2012.
	This figure is unchanged from the previous Valuation Office Agency figures which also showed an indicative median rent of £750 a month in the 12 months to September 2011. More broadly, I would observe that Rightmove have forecast that two-thirds of landlords are planning to freeze rents next year (Rightmove, Consumer Rental Forecast, 3 December 2012).

Early Intervention

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support he plans to provide to local authorities to enable them to maintain spending on early intervention at existing levels when the early intervention grant is rolled into the rate support grant.

Brandon Lewis: The Business Rate Retention Scheme will give local authorities the flexibility and freedom to direct resources to meet priority needs of their communities. We will be retaining visibility of the Early Intervention Grant resources being rolled into the scheme by publishing the funding profile for each local authority.

Local Government: Joint Working

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to encourage joint working in local government.

Brandon Lewis: The Tri-borough initiative in London (Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster) report that they are on track to save £40 million by 2015-16 by combining back office services and management costs. If other councils across the country were able to save half that amount by sharing services with neighbours, it could deliver potential national savings of £2 billion for councils.

Homelessness

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of progress by his Department in reducing homelessness.

Mark Prisk: The latest statistics show that homelessness is under half what it was in 2003 at its peak. Despite the tough financial climate, we are investing £470 million to ensure that England continues to provide vulnerable people and families with a strong safety net protected in law.

Council Tax: Pendle

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in Pendle are (a) in receipt of and (b) entitled to claim a single person discount on council tax.

Brandon Lewis: In October 2012 Pendle borough council reported there were 13,678 dwellings subject to the 25% single person discount for council tax purposes in their area.
	These data were published on Tuesday 20 November 2012 and are available on the gov.uk website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/council-taxbase-statistics
	No information is available of those that are entitled to claim the single person discount.
	Single person discount is a long-standing feature of the council tax system, and reflects the fact that single adult households make less use of municipal services than larger households.

Environmental Impact Assessment

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what his policy is on the European Commission's legislative proposal to amend the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive;
	(2)  for what reason his Department plans to review the application of European Directive 2011/92/EU on environmental impact assessments to the planning system in England.

Nicholas Boles: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement of 6 December 2012, Official Report, columns 71-72WS.

Fire Services: South West

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service received from neighbouring fire services during the recent adverse weather; and what specialist equipment was provided from neighbouring fire services.

Brandon Lewis: During the flooding in November, at the peak of activity on the 21st, 42 pumping appliances from Devon and Somerset were committed, with one High Volume Pump from Avon Fire and Rescue Service and three appliances from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service in assistance.
	On Thursday 22 to Friday 23 November, four type B flood rescue boat teams were stationed in Devon and Somerset from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services, and two from the RNLI.
	On Saturday 24 to Sunday 25 November, four type B flood rescue boat teams were stationed in Devon and Somerset, two each from Severn Area Rescue Association and the RNLI.
	In addition, high volume pump crews from Gloucestershire and Avon assisted with a major incident in Halberton, near Tiverton in Devon, when a canal embankment collapsed, displacing a large amount of water. The Gloucestershire and Avon crews took part in a 24/7 rota with Devon and Somerset Special Operations crews over several days to move a large amount of water, preventing a further canal breach which would have led to the flooding of the village of Halberton.

Housing: Standards

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  (a) how many and (b) what proportion of noise complaints were made by residents living in properties built to Robust Detail standards in each of the last five years;
	(2)  whether his Department has put in place measures to allow people who have purchased a property built to Robust Detail standards to have noise transference in the property tested once building has been completed and residents have moved in;
	(3)  what recent representations he has received on the performance of Robust Detail installations; and if he will meet a group of constituents from Dudley to discuss their concerns.

Don Foster: Records of complaints made by residents in newly built houses are not held centrally.
	There are no statutory provisions in place to address complaints about new homes. People who have a complaint about newly built houses that they have purchased should take their complaints to the house builder or their warranty provider.
	The Department receives quarterly performance reports from Robust Details Ltd which continue to show a high rate of success in achieving the required levels of sound insulation.
	I would be happy to consider meeting a group of constituents if it is established that their concerns relate to a matter within my control.

Local Government Finance: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the level of central government grant to Halton Borough Council area has been in each financial year since 2009-10.

Brandon Lewis: Formula grant, special grant and capital grant funding for each year is given on our website at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0910/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1011/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1213/grant.htm#set
	Funding for 2013-14 will be announced shortly alongside the 2013-14 Local Government Finance Report.

Local Government Finance: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the net change in funding from central government to (a) Middlesbrough Borough Council and (b) Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council was between (a) 2009-10 and 2010-11, (b) 2010-11 and 2011-12 and (c) 2011-12 and 2012-13; and what the estimated net change in funding will be between 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Brandon Lewis: Formula grant, special grant and capital grant funding for each year is given on our website at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0910/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1011/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/grant.htm#set
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1213/grant.htm#set
	Funding for 2013-14 will be announced shortly alongside the 2013-14 Local Government Finance Report.

Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 169W, on non-domestic rates: empty property, if he will publish the calculations that were used to provide the estimate in that Answer.

Brandon Lewis: The starting point of the estimate is the cost of the scheme in 2008-09 or 2011-12 as reported by local authorities on the National Non-domestic Rate 3 returns. In these years 100% relief was given for three months for non-industrial properties and six months for industrial properties. These years are selected as the starting point because they are the two most recent years for which empty property relief closely resembled the proposal outlined in the original question. In 2008-09, the cost of relief was £606 million and in 2011-12 the cost of relief was £859 million. These two figures, along with an adjustment for the change in the number of empty properties, are used as the basis of the low and high end of the range. Both figures are adjusted for inflation to produce an equivalent in 2013-14 prices.
	It is then necessary to estimate the additional cost of offering relief for an extra three months to non-industrial properties. To do this, the current cost of relief is reduced by the amount of relief given to properties below the £2,600 rateable value threshold for 100% ongoing relief. This leaves only the temporary relief given to industrial and non-industrial properties. This relief is then split between industrial and non-industrial properties based on the shares as reported by local authorities on the 2008-09 National Non-domestic Rate 1 returns. Once the cost of giving industrial properties relief for three months is estimated it is multiplied by two to estimate the cost of giving relief for six months. This assumes that all those properties empty for three months will still be empty after six months. This cost is then added to the adjusted existing cost of relief to give a gross cost of giving permanent 100% relief to all properties with a rateable value of less than £2,600 and temporary 100% relief for six months for all properties.
	I would note that the autumn statement announced plans to exempt empty new build property from business rates for 18 months until October 2016. This will help promote development and regeneration. The costings for this tax cut are in the autumn statement (Cm 8480).

Planning Permission

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government under what circumstances planning permission can be refused on the grounds of lack of infrastructure.

Nicholas Boles: Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan for the area, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The National Planning Policy Framework states that development plans should set out the strategic priorities for the area. This should include policies to deliver the provision of infrastructure, such as transport, telecommunications, waste management, and flood risk. Whether lack of infrastructure justifies a reason for refusing a planning application is a matter for the decision maker, having regard to the merits of the case and the legal framework.

Riots Communities and Victims Panel

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 228W, on Riot Communities and Victims' Panel, when he plans to publish further information on the Government's response to the Riot Communities and Victims' Panel report.

Brandon Lewis: The panel published its final report on 28 March 2012 and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), made a written ministerial statement to Parliament on 13 July 2012, Official Report, columns 74-78WS, in response. In the statement the Government made the commitment to publish further information on the Government's response to the panel's report in due course; this will be published shortly.

Social Rented Housing: Greater London

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the proportion of local authority social housing lets in London in 2011-12 that have been recorded in the Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales data for that year. [R]

Mark Prisk: I will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested following the release of data on the total number of local authority social housing lettings on 20 December.

EDUCATION

Arts

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which representatives of national organisations connected to the creative sectors he met on 3 December 2012.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 6 December 2012
	On 3 December 2012, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), met with the following representatives of creative sector organisations.
	
		
			 Name Representing organisation 
			 Marcus Davey Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Roundhouse 
			 Sir John Sorrell Chairman, the Sorrell Foundation 
			 Darren Henley Managing Director, Classic FM 
			 Alistair Spalding Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Sadler’s Wells 
			 Ed Vaizey MP Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries

Basic Skills

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what lifeskills educational programmes (a) he and (b) his Department has evaluated.

Elizabeth Truss: This Department is in the process of assessing the strength of the evaluation of Botvin Life Skills Training Programme. Once completed, the assessment will be added to the Department’s open-access database of evaluations of programmes aimed at improving outcomes for young people.
	There is some international evidence that shows that life skills programmes can have an effect on substance use onset rates, for example, though some studies have found that the size of these effects is small (Coggans et al., 2003) and in other studies the methodology has been challenged (Botvin 1999 and Gorman 2002).

Children in Care

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much Ofsted (a) spent on inspections of children's homes and (b) received from such inspections in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the scheduled budget was of costs of such inspections in that period.

Edward Timpson: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw
	Your recent parliamentary questions have been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
	Between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012, Ofsted:
	(a) spent £13.1m on the full and interim inspections of Children's and Secure Children's Homes. This total expenditure represents the full cost of inspection and includes direct, indirect and overhead costs.
	(b) received £3.3m for the inspection of Children's and Secure Children's Homes.
	As the full cost of inspection includes direct, indirect and overhead costs, it is not possible to provide a single figure for the scheduled budget of costs for such inspections.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to David Laws, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what residential children's homes he has visited since his appointment; and on what dates.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 19 November 2012
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) has not visited any residential children's homes since his appointment.

Climate Change: Curriculum

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to place climate change on the national curriculum for (a) physics, (b) chemistry and (c) biology lessons for 11 to 16 year olds.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government is currently reviewing the national curriculum in England to make sure that it is as rigorous as the curricula used in the most successful education jurisdictions and that it focuses on essential knowledge, while giving schools greater freedom to design and teach their wider school curriculum in a way that best meet the needs of their pupils.
	In terms of lessons on climate change, the Government believes that the Programme of Study for science should prescribe the core scientific knowledge that underpins scientific understanding, including understanding of climate change. The detailed content of the new Programme of Study for all subjects of the new national curriculum, including physics, chemistry and biology, are still being developed and will be published for consultation early next year.

Domestic Violence: Education

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of relationship education in (a) combating violence against women and girls and (b) changing attitudes towards domestic violence; what evidence on these issues has been presented to his Department in the last five years; what plans he has to review any such evidence; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: There is some evidence, such as Taylor et al 2010, showing that schools-based programmes can improve awareness, attitudes and knowledge of gender violence and harassment prevention. Relationship education can be provided by schools as part of Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education. It is for schools to determine what they teach on these issues, and the Government trusts professionals in schools to decide what is most appropriate for their pupils.
	The Government recognises the importance of tackling violence against women and girls and all forms of domestic violence. The Home Office leads cross-government work on these issues, and has an Action Plan setting out what is being done to address them. The Department for Education is responsible for some actions in the plan and is represented at ministerial and official level on the cross-government groups chaired by the Home Office.

Free Schools: Teachers

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers without a teaching qualification have been employed by free schools since their introduction in 2010.

David Laws: holding answer 25 June 2012
	The information is not collected in the format requested.
	Information on the number of teachers in service is collected in the annual School Workforce Census. In November 2011, 17 free schools completed the School Workforce Census and, within these schools, 21 (10%) teachers in post did not have qualified teacher status. In nine of the schools (53%), all teachers had qualified teacher status. This is the latest information available.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which special advisers and policy advisers in his Department have attended departmental board meetings since May 2010; and what the dates of any such meetings were.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 6 December 2012
	The names of the special/policy advisers and the dates that they attended departmental board meetings between May 2010 and October 2012 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Special/policy advisers 
			 Tuesday 26 October 2010 Henry de Zoete—Special adviser Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser Janet Grauberg—Senior policy adviser Elena Narozanski—Special adviser 
			 Tuesday 11 January 2011 Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser 
			 Monday 4 April 2011 Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser Dominic Cummings—Special adviser Henry de Zoete—Special adviser Janet Grauberg—Senior policy adviser 
			 Tuesday 10 May 2011 Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser 
			 Tuesday 21 June 2011 Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser Janet Grauberg—Senior policy adviser 
			 Tuesday 7 February 2012 Janet Grauberg—Senior policy adviser Sam Freedman—Senior policy Adviser Henry de Zoete—Special Adviser Dominic Cummings—Special adviser 
			 Thursday 12 July 2012 Dominic Cummings—Special adviser 
			 Thursday 4 October 2012 Dominic Cummings—Special adviser Sam Freedman—Senior policy adviser Matt Sanders—Special adviser

Pupil Exclusions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils permanently excluded from (a) primary and (b) secondary school in each local authority (i) had a special need, (ii) were in care and (iii) were in receipt of free school meals in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Information has been placed in the House Libraries for 2006/07 and for the latest year available, 2010/11 for special educational needs and free school meal eligibility and 2009/10 for in care. To provide data for further years would incur disproportionate cost.
	The latest data on exclusions was published in the “Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2010/11” Statistical First release on 25 July 2012 at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001080/index.shtml

School Meals

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential health effects on students of his decision to exempt schools with academy freedoms from minimum nutritional food standards;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the potential health effects on students in academy schools of his decision to exempt such schools from minimum nutritional food standards;
	(3)  what information his Department holds on the number of schools exempt from nutritional food standards that are offering products for sale that would be disallowed by those standards if they were applied;
	(4)  what representations he has received from health profession experts on the potential effects of his decision to exempt schools with academy freedoms from minimum nutritional food standards.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not made any assessment of, or discussed with the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), the potential health effects on students of Academies not having to comply with the standards.
	However, a number of pieces of research undertaken by the School Food Trust, looking at school food in both Academies and maintained schools, were published earlier this year. Together these showed that all of the Academies interviewed identified food as an important part of overall education, and showed a strong commitment to providing healthy, nutritious food and to following the standards without the requirement to do so. We do not know the numbers of Academies or maintained schools who are offering products for sale that would not comply with the standards.
	The research did make it clear, however, that while leaders in schools recognise that healthy school food is important, there is room for improvement in all schools, including those in the maintained sector.
	Although the Department has not received representations from health profession experts on the effects of Academies not having to comply with the standards, we have received a number of representations, including other parliamentary questions, from stakeholders and interested parties. We take this matter very seriously, and want all pupils to have the opportunity to select a healthy, balanced school lunch. The Secretary of State has asked Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent to examine school food across the country, in order to produce an action plan for schools. The plan will build on the successes of the last seven years, accelerate improvements and define the role schools have to play in shaping eating habits. The reviewers are due to present their findings in 2013.

School Meals

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what his policy is on food nutrition standards in schools with academy freedoms;
	(2)  how many schools with academy status have (a) voluntarily applied and (b) declined to apply minimum nutritional food standards;
	(3)  when his investigation into food nutrition standards will report.

Elizabeth Truss: Free schools and academies set up from September 2010 are not required to comply with the school food standards set out in the Education (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007.
	A number of pieces of research undertaken by the School Food Trust, looking at school food in both academies and maintained schools, were published earlier this year. Together these showed that all of the academies interviewed identified food as an important part of overall education, and showed a strong commitment to providing healthy, nutritious food and to following the standards without the requirement to do so.
	We do not know the numbers of academies or maintained schools who have chosen to either follow or not follow the standards.
	The research did make it clear, however, that while leaders in schools recognise that healthy school food is important, there is room for improvement in all schools, including those in the maintained sector.
	We take this matter very seriously, and want all pupils to have the opportunity to select a healthy, balanced school lunch. The Secretary of State has asked Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent to examine school food across the country, in order to produce an action plan for schools. The plan will build on the successes of the last seven years, accelerate improvements and define the role schools have to play in shaping eating habits. The reviewers are due to present their findings in 2013.

Schools: Asbestos

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the presence of asbestos in school premises in England following the recent discovery of asbestos at Cwmcarn High School in Caerphilly; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their statutory duties in relation to a risk-based approach to the management of asbestos in schools.

David Laws: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continues to investigate the management of asbestos at Cwmcarn high school in Wales.
	The investigation is assessing the local authority's, and the school's, compliance with their duties under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This includes reviewing the asbestos surveys, monitoring and test results; and a report prepared by Santia who are asbestos management consultants. The Santia report has been published on Caerphilly council's website.
	The responsibility for managing the risks from asbestos containing materials under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 falls to those responsible for the maintenance and repair of the school buildings.
	Following the reporting of this incident, the Department has received representations from members of the Asbestos in Schools Group and a number of points have been raised by them. These points are being carefully considered but it is proper to wait until HSE have concluded their investigations and reported before deciding what action, if any, is appropriate for the Department to take.
	The Department does not have a regulatory role to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their duties in the management of asbestos. It does, however, take the issue of managing asbestos in our schools seriously and is proactive in promoting good asbestos management in schools. On-line guidance on managing the risks from asbestos containing materials was published on the departmental website on 24 October 2012.
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schoolscapital/buildingsanddesign/managementofpremises/b00215518/asbestosmanagementschools/asbestosmanagementresources
	DFE and the Education Funding Agency do, however, liaise with the HSE as necessary as it is the lead regulator and enforces the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises such as schools.

Schools: Repairs and Maintenance

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what funds his Department has distributed to schools for improvements to changing facilities in each of the last five years in each local education authority;
	(2)  what funding his Department makes available for improvements to school changing facilities;
	(3)  what recent assessment he has made of changing facilities for physical education in schools.

David Laws: The Department does not allocate capital funding specifically for improvements to changing facilities. We make maintenance funding available to local authorities and schools, and its use is determined at a local level.
	The Department does not make an assessment of the provision of changing facilities. The School Premises Regulations 2012 state that
	'suitable changing accommodation must be provided for pupils aged 11 years or over at the start of the school year who receive physical education'.
	The following table details capital maintenance (condition maintenance and devolved formula capital) allocations for 2007/08 to 2011/12 by local authority area.
	
		
			 Capital allocations: Capital maintenance and devolved formula capital (1) 
			 £ million 
			 Name 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 City of London 0.07 0.13 0.10 0.07 0.06 
			 Camden 5.90 6.00 8.06 3.86 4.51 
			 Greenwich 7.10 7.42 9.76 5.30 5.99 
			 Hackney 5.11 6.25 8.00 4.70 4.41 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 6.28 4.15 6.53 1.82 3.55 
			 Islington 5.47 5.33 6.96 3.56 3.61 
		
	
	
		
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3.78 3.24 3.43 2.38 2.41 
			 Lambeth 7.41 8.58 11.03 4.15 5.49 
			 Lewisham 8.29 7.49 9.38 6.07 5.66 
			 Southwark 9.04 7.75 11.35 4.24 6.09 
			 Tower Hamlets 6.41 7.85 11.36 5.77 6.38 
			 Wandsworth 11.45 8.23 8.85 5.06 5.56 
			 Westminster 4.36 4.43 6.81 2.84 3.09 
			 Barking and Dagenham 7.53 7.26 9.14 3.66 5.01 
			 Barnet 13.41 12.10 16.99 5.22 7.53 
			 Bexley 12.88 7.67 10.76 3.10 6.70 
			 Brent 9.13 8.87 14.15 3.33 7.34 
			 Bromley 12.06 9.25 15.19 3.76 10.11 
			 Croydon 10.61 11.24 17.01 5.81 8.44 
			 Ealing 10.03 8.04 12.78 3.11 7.16 
			 Enfield 12.07 9.89 12.64 6.85 7.75 
			 Haringey 6.21 6.59 10.80 3.28 5.67 
			 Harrow 7.09 5.62 8.38 3.03 4.94 
			 Havering 10.97 7.44 9.25 5.82 7.24 
			 Hillingdon 11.80 8.04 12.97 3.58 8.59 
			 Hounslow 9.75 8.65 10.14 6.04 6.40 
			 Kingston upon Thames 6.43 4.93 6.70 2.65 4.36 
			 Merton 4.22 4.77 7.33 2.67 3.98 
			 Newham 7.14 7.39 12.48 3.98 6.91 
			 Redbridge 11.87 8.66 10.89 6.07 7.31 
			 Richmond upon Thames 5.85 4.65 5.37 3.11 3.19 
			 Sutton 8.25 6.42 7.83 4.95 5.24 
			 Waltham Forest 7.18 6.49 8.12 5.38 5.34 
			 Birmingham 46.86 39.53 50.22 24.35 28.43 
			 Coventry 14.03 10.20 14.76 4.45 6.96 
			 Dudley 10.50 9.18 11.90 7.49 6.89 
			 Sandwell 10.59 9.35 11.61 6.31 6.35 
			 Solihull 9.35 6.96 8.63 5.05 5.24 
			 Walsall 11.41 10.34 12.08 7.57 7.05 
			 Wolverhampton 12.29 8.84 10.77 5.75 5.08 
			 Knowsley 4.67 5.72 8.01 3.23 3.09 
			 Liverpool 16.53 14.65 18.67 10.67 8.76 
			 St Helens 7.94 6.07 8.28 3.51 3.62 
			 Sefton 14.28 10.51 12.97 6.61 6.80 
			 Wirral 13.56 10.39 14.23 6.34 7.08 
			 Bolton 12.93 10.44 15.37 4.60 6.87 
			 Bury 6.48 6.64 9.02 4.45 4.86 
			 Manchester 17.78 14.61 21.09 6.22 8.70 
			 Oldham 11.25 10.28 13.85 4.77 5.22 
			 Rochdale 8.55 7.97 10.52 4.55 4.28 
			 Salford 7.40 7.41 11.74 2.55 4.47 
			 Stockport 10.71 9.72 13.76 4.49 6.26 
			 Tameside 9.06 7.40 9.39 4.48 4.51 
			 Trafford 9.36 8.10 10.79 5.36 5.94 
			 Wigan 14.60 11.28 16.12 5.91 7.03 
			 Barnsley 5.45 5.81 9.79 3.19 4.73 
			 Doncaster 13.12 10.47 15.90 4.26 7.43 
			 Rotherham 9.64 8.71 12.74 4.59 7.69 
			 Sheffield 15.72 14.83 22.42 5.92 9.54 
			 Bradford 16.94 17.77 22.14 13.42 11.72 
			 Calderdale 8.25 7.62 11.44 3.59 5.29 
			 Kirklees 15.44 14.94 18.24 11.52 10.90 
			 Leeds 27.33 21.44 32.24 9.89 16.10 
			 Wakefield 13.05 10.71 14.68 7.13 9.14 
			 Gateshead 6.92 7.14 7.68 4.32 4.58 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 7.25 8.07 9.52 6.15 4.75 
			 North Tyneside 5.92 6.37 9.99 2.69 4.52 
			 South Tyneside 4.73 5.19 6.32 4.02 3.31 
			 Sunderland 9.91 8.92 12.83 4.42 6.06 
			 Isles of Scilly 0.10 0.12 0.08 0.05 0.06 
		
	
	
		
			 Bath and North East Somerset 7.46 5.97 9.40 2.33 5.66 
			 Bristol City of 12.35 10.48 15.10 5.12 7.66 
			 North Somerset 9.73 5.25 7.68 2.62 4.90 
			 South Gloucestershire 11.09 8.31 11.13 4.96 6.55 
			 Hartlepool 3.39 3.62 4.31 2.67 2.44 
			 Middlesbrough 3.88. 4.78 6.24 3.05 2.92 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 6.34 4.44 5.62 3.16 .3.47 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 6.99 6.88 8.19 5.21 4.38 
			 Kingston upon Hull City of 7.85 7.04 11.03. 3.20 5.10 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 16.84 10.92 12.91 7.59 10.01 
			 North East Lincolnshire 6.42 5.92 6.45 4.01 3.01 
			 North Lincolnshire 4.68 4.54 7.16 2.78 3.83 
			 North Yorkshire 23.52 23.96 30.48 19.38 20.05 
			 York 6.97 5.65 6.98 3.05 4.08 
			 Pre LGR (2009) Bedfordshire 21.31 15.42 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Luton 5.14 5.70 9.82 2.49 5.06 
			 Bedford 0.00 0.00 7.55 4.57 7.42 
			 Central Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 11.44 7.09 8.26 
			 Buckinghamshire 22.58 13.04 28.01 6.81 15.44 
			 Milton Keynes 11.58 8.06 9.33 5.55 7.04 
			 Derbyshire 35.78 26.49 39.14 11.85 21.27 
			 Derby 9.30 8.65 9.86 6.11 6.12 
			 Dorset 16.15 13.60 19.54 7.42 10.60 
			 Poole 4.28 4.21 4.93 3.15 2.87 
			 Bournemouth 4.29 4.58 5.45 3.59 3.05 
			 Durham 19.82 19.64 27.09 12.82 15.52 
			 Darlington 3.86 3.57 3.86 2.48 2.31 
			 East Sussex 18.38 14.76 20.69 8.65 12.18 
			 Brighton and Hove 5.96 6.75 8.20 5.37 5.18 
			 Hampshire 61.46 43.65 54.47 22.00 34.84 
			 Portsmouth 5.30 5.53 6.83 4.34 4.15 
			 Southampton 6.21 5.98 7.78 3.91 4.72 
			 Leicestershire 26.41 20.98 26.13 14.98 16.58 
			 Leicester 8.23 8.00 13.00 3.93 5.80 
			 Rutland 1.34 1.15 1.55 0.98 1.00 
			 Staffordshire 35.16 27.50 42.72 13.18 21.20 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 5.11 6.37 8.24 5.89 4.64 
			 Wiltshire 17.39 16.93 20.90 12.46 12.53 
			 Swindon 7.00 5.71 9.37 2.35 4.76 
			 Bracknell Forest 3.23 3.47 5.35 1.71 2.77 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 5.75 4.88 8.09 1.84 4.16 
			 West Berkshire 5.64 6.11 8.73 5.51 5.75 
			 Reading 5.15 3.61 5.92 1.40 3.56 
			 Slough 5.32 4.38 5.27 3.19 3.41 
			 Wokingham 5.41 5.47 6.76 4.19 4.09 
			 Cambridgeshire 22.24 15.50 25.28 8.01 14.20 
			 Peterborough 7.43 6.17 8.07 3.67 4.36 
			 Pre LGR (2009) Cheshire 27.50 23.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Halton 5.78 4.70 6.29 2.93 3.16 
			 Warrington 8.90 7.25 9.99 4.25 4.87 
			 Devon 30.82 22.43 34.53 9.71 22.17 
			 Plymouth 13.59 9.24 10.64 5.41 9.17 
			 Torbay 5.85 5.17 5.54 3.08 3.20 
			 Essex 54.51 44.07 66.96 20.15 38.59 
			 Southend-on-Sea 5.53 5.83 7.08 4.57 4.98 
			 Thurrock 5.13 4.15 6.02 2.77 3.46 
			 Herefordshire 7.87 6.12 8.78 3.08 4.92 
			 Worcestershire 24.78 18.34 22.49 13.43 13.37 
			 Kent 57.64 47.98 76.37 17.55 36.65 
			 Medway 13.12 9.19 10.93 6.67 6.78 
			 Lancashire 51.63 45.93 61.80 28.62 30.94 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 7.37 6.01 6.98 4.58 3.41 
			 Blackpool 4.74 4.44 5.88 2.77 2.79 
			 Nottinghamshire 27.75 25.83 39.41 11.59 21.43 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottingham 8.58 8.72 11.53 5.17 5.61 
			 Shropshire 10.99 9.44 13.95 5.75 7.68 
			 Telford and Wrekin 8.02 5.58 6.43 3.87 3.19 
			 Cheshire East 0.00 0.00 14.56 8.19 10.24 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 0.00 0.00 15.45 8.13 9.07 
			 Cornwall 24.09 16.87 20.27 11.13 14.72 
			 Cumbria 21.20 21.97 26.94 17.29 15.70 
			 Gloucestershire 24.34 21.26 27.24 15.33 20.28 
			 Hertfordshire 54.77 40.91 61.28 22.00 37.38 
			 Isle of Wight 4.76 4.54 8.32 2.07 4.11 
			 Lincolnshire 31.65 24.12 37.07 9.77 18.26 
			 Norfolk 33.83 28.18 34.69 20.58 20.97 
			 Northamptonshire 29.12 22.48 35.45 8.55 17.36 
			 Northumberland 19.24 11.47 17.37 5.43 9.40 
			 Oxfordshire 22.02 18.88 28.69 10.90 16.08 
			 Somerset 22.75 17.71 26.89 8.26 14.49 
			 Suffolk 28.61 23.60 29.87 18.31 21.32 
			 Surrey 35.24 36.08 46.24 25.73 29.04 
			 Warwickshire 21.31 19.91 26.95 10.74 14.74 
			 West Sussex 30.06 23.68 33.03 12.26 18.37 
			 (1) DFC and capital maintenance (including modernisation) for maintained schools, and Academies Capital Maintenance Fund. Includes capital grant and supported borrowing.

Schools: Sports

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has undertaken any research to establish the effects of Government funding reductions on the level of participation by young people in school sport.

Edward Timpson: The Department no longer collects data on the participation of school children in physical education and sport, as it was felt that this placed a burden on schools that distracted them from the provision of PE and school sport. Data relating to sports participation is collected by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Taking Part survey and Sport England's Active People survey.

Schools: Standards

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what comparative assessment he has made of the performance of schools in the London Challenge and other schools in narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils.

David Laws: The Department published its “Evaluation of the City Challenge Programme” report in June 2012, and it is available at
	https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/publicationDetail/Page1/DFE-RR215
	The report sets out the findings of a mixed methods evaluation of the City Challenge programme in London, Greater Manchester and the Black Country, and retrospectively reviews the London Challenge.
	Concerning the latter, it is clear that between 2003 and 2011, secondary pupil attainment in London improved more rapidly than that in other parts of the country. The percentage of London secondary pupils achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs including English and mathematics was below the national figure until 2004, but from 2005 on, was above the national figure.
	In the City Challenge, which built on the success and lesson of the London Challenge, the attainment of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) increased by more than the national figure in all areas, with the exception of Greater Manchester primary pupils. The attainment gap between pupils eligible for FSM narrowed for London primary-and secondary pupils, and Greater Manchester primary pupils. The proportion of good and outstanding schools increased in all three areas.
	The Government is determined to narrow attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in all parts of the country, and that is why we have introduced the pupil premium. This investment currently stands at £1.25 billion and will rise to £1.875 billion in 2013-14. We believe that head teachers and school leaders should decide how to use the pupil premium, as they are the professional experts who know their own pupils' needs. This means that we also expect schools to take the lead responsibility in assessing and accounting for their use of the premium.
	The Government has commissioned an external evaluation of the premium's first year, and also asked Ofsted to study how effectively schools are using their premium funding to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
	Ofsted published their interim study in September 2012, and they will publish further findings early in 2013. In addition to this, they have an increased focus on the performance of pupils who attract the premium, and on how it is used to remove barriers to learning for premium pupils. Since September 2012, as part of routine school inspection, Ofsted have been holding school leaders to account for how schools have spent their pupil premium and what difference this is making to the learning and progress of the pupils concerned. Their judgments on schools' leadership will consider the use of both the premium and other resources to overcome barriers to achievement for their pupils.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 November 2012, Official Report, columns 55-56W, on sick leave, what assessment he has made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost due to ill health between officers at EA grade and at SCS grade; and what assessment he has made of the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost in his Department.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has not carried out an assessment on the variation in proportion of sick days between officers at different grades, or the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost.
	The Department encourages proactive line management of staff that are unwell and provides a range of options to support and reduce absence. These include access to guidance, occupational health and employee assistance.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether it is his intention that disabled children with health or care plans will have their needs met through the local offer.

Edward Timpson: The Government published draft legislative provisions for special educational needs in September 2012, including proposals for local authorities in England to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs, including those who are disabled. The local offer would set out what families can expect from local services across education, health and social care and the eligibility criteria for accessing those services where appropriate. The local offer would include information about how to seek an assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan. Local authorities would be required to involve local children, young people and families in developing their local offer to ensure it takes account of their needs.
	The draft special educational needs provisions are being scrutinised by the Education Select Committee. The Government will give careful consideration to the Committee's report when framing the legislation for introduction to Parliament.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that the services set out in local offers are sufficient to meet the needs of disabled children and their families in the relevant area.

Edward Timpson: The Government published draft legislative provisions for special educational needs in September 2012, including proposals for local authorities in England to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs, including those who are disabled. We anticipate that in many cases this would cover services that are accessed by both disabled children and young people with and without SEN. The local offer would enable families to see readily what they can expect from mainstream services across education, health and social care; how to access more specialist support; how decisions are made including eligibility criteria for accessing services where appropriate; and how to complain or appeal. Local authorities would be required to involve local children, young people and families in developing their local offer to take account of their needs and aspirations.
	The draft special educational needs provisions are being scrutinised by the Education Select Committee. The Government will give careful consideration to the Committee's report when framing the legislation for introduction to Parliament.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he will take to ensure that health and social care agencies are accountable for the services they provide under the local offer.

Edward Timpson: The Government published draft legislative provisions for special educational needs in September 2012, including proposals for local authorities in England to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs, including those who are disabled. The local offer would set out what families can expect from local services across education, health and social care and the eligibility criteria for accessing those services where appropriate. Local authorities would be required to involve local children, young people and families in developing their local offer to take account of their needs and aspirations. Each service would be accountable for delivering what is set out in the local offer and if families are unhappy with what they receive or what is available they would be able to take this up with those services. The local offer would give details of how to complain about provision and about rights of appeal.
	The draft special educational needs provisions are being scrutinised by the Education Select Committee. The Government will give careful consideration to the Committee's report when framing the legislation for introduction to Parliament.

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children with dyslexia are recorded as being in receipt of additional support at the (a) school action, (b) school action plus and (c) statement level.

Edward Timpson: Information on pupils with dyslexia is not available.
	The available information, on the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs or at School Action Plus, whose primary need has been identified as a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) is shown in the following table. Pupils with dyslexia as their primary need are included in the SpLD category.
	Information on pupils with special educational needs (including school level data) is available in the ‘Special Educational Needs in England: January 2012’ Statistical First Release which can be found at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001075/index.shtml
	
		
			 State-funded primary, state-funded secondary and special schools (1,2,3,4) : Number and percentage of pupils with a specific learning difficulty (5,6) —January 2012, England 
			  School Action Plus Statement of SEN Total 
			  Number Percentage (7) Number Percentage (7) Number Percentage (7) 
			 Total 63,695 13.4 10,880 5.1 74,575 10.8 
			 State-funded primary schools(1,2) 28,995 10.6 2,580 4.4 31,580 9.5 
			 State-funded secondary schools(1,3) 34,665 17.3 7,280 11.6 41,940 15.9 
			 Special schools(4) 35 2.0 1,020 1.1 1,055 1.1 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes all primary academies, including free schools. (3) Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools. Includes all-through schools. (4) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools and special academies. Excludes general hospital schools. (5) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. (6) Pupils at School Action Plus and those pupils with a statement of SEN provided information on their primary need and, if appropriate, their secondary need. Information on primary need only is given here. (7) Number of pupils with a specific learning difficulty expressed as a percentage of those pupils at either School Action Plus or with a statement of SEN by type of school. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: School Census

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether independent specialist colleges providing further education for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities will be included within the scope of his forthcoming legislative proposals to reform special educational needs.

Edward Timpson: The draft SEN provisions are currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny. I have been listening carefully to arguments that independent specialist colleges should be included in the provisions.
	If included, it would mean that parents or young people would have a right to express a preference for an independent specialist college. Local authorities would then be required to name that institution in the education, health and care plan unless they consider it unsuitable for their education, or incompatible with the education of others, or efficient use of resources. I am considering the arguments for this carefully.

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what support his Department plans to provide to local authorities as they take on new responsibilities for the education of people aged between 16 and 25 with a special educational need or disability.

Edward Timpson: The new Special Needs Code of Practice will provide guidance to local authorities on their duties around young people aged 16 to 25 with a special educational need or disability. Officials are currently consulting representatives of the special educational need and disability sectors and wider groups on the information to be included in the draft code. The Government will be consulting publicly on the new code before it is published.
	Since September 2011, 20 special educational need pathfinders consisting of 31 local authorities and primary care trusts have been testing out the main proposals contained within the Green Paper, ‘Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability’, published in March 2011.
	The pathfinders have tested core elements including strong partnerships between local services and agencies working together to help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
	The pathfinders will run until September 2013 and have been sharing their learning on a local basis with non-pathfinder local authorities. At the beginning of 2013, we plan to recruit between nine and 15 pathfinder champions from the pathfinders to be responsible for spreading pathfinder learning more widely and providing support to all local authorities, and well as other groups such as parent forums. This engagement will take place on a regional and national basis.

Teachers

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers who trained since 1997 are no longer in teaching.

David Laws: Provisional figures show that, of those teachers who gained qualified teacher status between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2009, 56,700 had left service by 31 March 2010 having previously entered. This is 17.0% of all those who qualified and entered service during the period.
	The figure includes all teachers that had been in service in a teaching capacity in England in publicly funded schools and further education. It also includes those with service in some higher education colleges and independent schools that are members of the teachers' pensions scheme. An unknown number of the teachers will be teaching outside of these sectors. The figure excludes any teachers aged over 60 and those under the age of 60 who are in receipt of a pension from the teachers' pensions scheme.

Third Sector

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many allocations of funding from his Department's voluntary and community sector funding stream there have been to date; and to whom such allocations have been made.

Elizabeth Truss: The bidding exercise for the National Prospectus Grants Programme 2013-15 closed on 30 November 2012. Eligible applications are under active consideration and no funding allocations have yet been made.
	The previous National Prospectus Grants Programme 2011-13 made 118 funding allocations. The list of those successful organisations can be found at the following web address:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0074906/60-million-grant-vcs

Voluntary Organisations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding remains in the allocation for voluntary sector organisations being bid for within his Department.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education announced a new round of VCSE funding under the National Prospectus Grants Programme 2013-15 on 26 October 2012. The bidding exercise for this programme, which will offer up to£30 million a year in 2013-14 and 2014-15, closed on 30 November 2012. Eligible applications are under active consideration and no funding allocations have yet been made.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's policy is on the recording of civilian deaths as a consequence of unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in Afghanistan.

Andrew Robathan: We deeply regret all civilian casualties. While we investigate carefully all alleged incidents involving UK forces, the Government does not record total figures for civilian casualties in Afghanistan because of the immense difficulty and risks that would be involved in collecting robust data.
	Protecting the Afghan civilian population is a cornerstone of the international security assistance force's mission, and all British troops undergo comprehensive training on the strict rules of engagement. This contrasts directly with the attitude of the insurgents, who use indiscriminate tactics, including suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices, as well as the deliberate and targeted killing of civilians.

Aircraft Carriers

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on the (a) concept and (b) assessment phase of the decision to install catapult and arrestor gear to the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 6 December 2012
	Up until the end of May 2012, we had committed up to £44 million on our conversion investigations with both the US Department of Defense and UK Aircraft Carrier Alliance, and £1 million on an air-to-air refuelling study. Work to finalise the run-down costs of our conversion work continues. I am withholding the information as estimates of these costs would prejudice commercial interests.

Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which animals have been used in scientific procedures undertaken under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and commissioned directly by his Department in each year since 2009; and how many such animals were used in procedures at the Porton Down facility.

Philip Dunne: DSTL research supports safe and effective protective measures for the UK and its armed forces which could not, currently, be achieved without the use of animals.
	DSTL has a remit to undertake research on behalf of the UK Government. This can involve participation in International Collaboration Programmes with other allied nations on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. This collaboration results in burden sharing and means that our use of animals in research studies can be reduced below that which would be required if we were not to collaborate.
	As part of the licensing process, the researchers have to convince the Home Office that the work is required, that the results cannot be obtained without the use of animals and that every step has been taken to minimise pain and suffering to the animals involved.
	DSTL returns the numbers of procedures undertaken involving animals at DSTL Porton Down to the Home Office on an annual basis. The numbers of procedures returned for the last three years are:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2009 8,452 
			 2010 9,582 
			 2011 9,882 
		
	
	The animals involved were pigs, rabbits, monkeys and rodents.
	The numbers of procedures for the 2012 calendar year is currently being compiled and will be returned to the Home Office towards the end of January 2013.

Armed Forces

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy that contact between military officers and hon. Members does not require Ministerial approval if that contact is in the course of official business.

Philip Hammond: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 27 March 2012, Official Report, columns 1050-51W, to the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy). There are no plans to change the policy.

Armed Forces Covenant

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish the next report on the Armed Forces Covenant.

Mark Francois: holding answer 30 November 2012
	We published the report on 6 December 2012.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances the taxable nature of the Survivors Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) would mean that a recipient of the SGIP would receive a lower overall guaranteed income than a recipient of the Guaranteed Income Payment.

Mark Francois: holding answer 6 November 2012
	A service person who sustains an injury is compensated, under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, for loss of earnings that would otherwise have been earned through post-service civilian employment. This takes the form of a regular Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) on leaving service. Where a service person dies in service, an eligible surviving adult dependant receives a Survivor's Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) in recognition of the loss of the deceased person's earnings.
	The GIP and SGIP are calculated in a similar way, based on the service person's age and salary at service termination or date of death. An injured service person may receive 100% of the calculated figure or, depending on the nature of their injuries, the GIP may be paid at 75%, 50% or 30% levels. The SGIP is set at 60% of the full GIP. Thus in identical career circumstances, the SGIP will be lower than the GIP received by more seriously injured personnel, but more than the GIP received by those with less serious injuries (although this does not take account of other payments, additional to the SGIP, made to eligible children).
	HM Revenue and Customs legislation regards the SGIP as "additional income" in recognition of any salary that the spouse may be earning, and it is therefore subject to taxation. SGIP payments are calculated in such a way as to make an element of the award effectively tax free. It is primarily the method of calculating the award, rather than its taxable status, which results in the SGIP representing a lower overall guaranteed income than the 100% GIP.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in receipt of (a) in-work and (b) out-of-work benefits received in-service fatality compensation in each year since 2005.

Mark Francois: holding answer 6 December 2012
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold information on how many people in receipt of in-work and out-of-work benefits received in-service fatality compensation.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average payment by his Department was of in-service fatality compensation in each year since 2005.

Mark Francois: holding answer 6 December 2012
	The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he and Ministers of his Department have had with their Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions on exempting in-service fatality compensation from calculations of welfare entitlement.

Mark Francois: holding answer 6 December 2012
	Ministry of Defence Ministers have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions about a wide variety of issues.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the guarantee not to reassess those who are part of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme when they transfer from being in receipt of disability living allowance to the personal independence payment applies to those on all armed forces compensation schemes.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Service and ex-service personnel who are awarded an Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) award at tariffs 1-8 or who receive a guaranteed income payment of 50% or higher will be eligible, without reassessment, for the Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) when it is introduced. All other service and ex-service personnel in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA) will be subject to the personal independence payment (PIP) rules including reassessment when it is introduced. However, those who receive compensation under the War Pensions Scheme have access to other, more generous, allowances in place of DLA. These additional war pensions allowances will continue and not be changed when PIP is introduced.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what operations have involved the deployment of UK armed forces personnel since 2010.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 4 December 2012
	I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 453W, to the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), which details deployment of UK armed forces personnel on United Nations-led missions and operations in support of United Nations Security Council Resolutions in the last five years.
	I also refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 162W, to the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey), which details the deployment of UK armed forces personnel on operations alongside other European nations, including EU and NATO operations in the last five years.
	I also refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 October 2012, Official Report, column 657W and the answer I gave on 5 December 2012, Official Report, column 768W, to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood), which details the deployment of UK personnel on Common Foreign and Security Policy or Common Security and Defence Policy operations.
	In addition, the table details significant(1) deployments of UK armed forces personnel, on national operations overseas, since 2010:
	(1) This table does not cover training, exercise and capacity building deployments.
	
		
			 Operation Remarks 
			 Atlantic Patrol Task (North) Providing support to British Overseas Territories, Humanitarian Aid, Disaster relief and counter narcotics operations 
			 Atlantic Patrol Task (South) Protecting British overseas territories in the South Atlantic 
			 Continuous At Sea Deterrence (Op Relentless) CASD is the UK's most enduring operation, providing a credible and capable deterrent for over 40 years. 
			 Defence Presence in the Gulf(Op Kipion) Maritime Security Operations in the Gulf and counter piracy off the Horn of Africa

Armed Forces: Deployment

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which postings in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force last longer than 13 weeks; and how many people undertook each such posting in each year since 2005;
	(2)  which training courses in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force take longer than 13 weeks; and how many people took part in each such course in each year since 2005;
	(3)  which deployments in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force last longer than 13 weeks; and how many people undertook in each such deployment in each year since 2005.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Postings in all three services exceed 13 weeks; most are for two years or more, although service personnel may be sent on short-term detachments during this period. Virtually all trained service personnel are posted to a unit. Most Army deployments are for a minimum of six months and the Royal Navy and RAF deploy units, composite unit elements or individuals to operational theatres for various lengths of time. Similarly there is a multitude of training courses run by the single services covering career, operational, platform specific and professional training, added to which are those run by the Defence Academy. Many of these exceed 13 weeks. The information requested about training is not held centrally and for the last seven years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Museums and Galleries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Army regimental museums there are in the UK.

Mark Francois: There are 130 British Army regimental museums in the UK.

Armed Forces: Poverty

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will commission research to establish to what extent former armed service personnel are dependent on food banks both for themselves and members of their families, and to establish what efforts are being made to address that problem.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	The Ministry of Defence has no plans to commission research along the lines suggested. There are some 4.6 million veterans in the UK, and it is therefore possible that a proportion may be using food banks. There is no requirement to identify oneself as a veteran when using these services.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of members of the armed forces whose application for voluntary redundancy was approved based on their total years of service who had their redundancy package reduced because their accumulated years involved a break in service; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: holding answer 26 November 2012
	We believe that in the Tranche 2 redundancy process, there may have been a small number of personnel who, in calculating their entitlements using an online redundancy calculator, did not take into account gaps in service. Personnel who had a break in service that spanned the transition between the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 75 and AFPS 05 would not necessarily be eligible to aggregate their service for the purposes of a redundancy package.
	Written redundancy forecasts, issued in June 2012, outlined the exact package to which applicants were entitled.
	The online redundancy calculator is an anonymous tool and holds no personal data, so it is not possible to identify the number of personnel who used it to estimate their redundancy payment and subsequently received a lower formal forecast.
	However, the Ministry of Defence is aware of 14 cases in which Army personnel have appealed after receiving lower redundancy payment forecasts than they had expected after using the online redundancy calculator. No known cases exist in the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force.

Armed Forces: Retirement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2012, Official Report, columns 438-9W, on armed forces: retirement, which of the retired service personnel listed in the answer have had meetings with Ministers in his Department after their official retirement date.

Mark Francois: holding answer 4 December 2012
	The following table shows meetings between Ministers and the 24 retired service personnel listed in the answer provided on 5 November 2012, Official Report, columns 438-39W:
	
		
			 Minister Date Retired personnel Purpose of meeting 
			 Right Hon. Andrew Robathan (Min AF) 27 November 2012 Lieutenant-General Barnabas White-Spunner Constituency meeting 
			 Philip Dunne MP (Min DEST) 25 October 2012 General Kevin O’Donoghue RUSI Acquisition Focus Group had meeting with Minister—Kevin O’Donoghue attended 
			 Right Hon. Andrew Robathan MP (Min DPWV) 22 March 2011, 20 July 2011 and 29 September 2011 Vice Admiral Alan Massey As part of the UK Hydrographic Office Owners Council 
			 Right Hon. Mark Francois MP (Min DPWV) 5 November 2012 Air Marshal Chris Nickols Minister met him in his capacity as chief executive of the RAF Benevolent Fund to discuss service, family, welfare and veterans issues

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of alleged (a) rape and (b) sexual assault have (i) been tried in the Service Civilian Court and (ii) resulted in a conviction since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: There have been two cases of alleged sexual assault that have been tried in the Service Civilian Court since 2005, one in 2005 and one in 2010. The charge of sexual assault in 2005 was changed to one of battery and a conviction resulted. The 2010 case resulted in a conviction for sexual assault. There were no trials for rape in the Service Civilian Court.
	During this period there have been other cases of rape and sexual assault which were initially directed for trial in the Service Civilian Court, but subsequently directed to either District Court Martial (DCM) or General Court Martial (GCM). DCMs and GCMs were replaced by “Court Martial” after the implementation of Armed Forces Act 2006 in 2009.
	The Service Civilian Court was referred to as the Standing Civilian Court until October 2009.
	Information for the period 2000 to 2004 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Assets

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a list of each asset on the defence estate in each nation and region of the UK, by (a) estimated worth of each asset and (b) running cost of each asset in the last 12 months.

Mark Francois: holding answer 6 December 2012
	For commercial reasons the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not release information on the value of individual assets. The information on the running cost of every asset on the Defence estate is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the overall cost of the Defence estate is published in the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts, which is available on the MOD website at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-12

Astute Class Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Project Chalfont.

Philip Dunne: I am withholding the information requested for the purpose of safeguarding national security. In addition, disclosure of the information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

Canada

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has for defence co-operation with Canada.

Andrew Murrison: The United Kingdom and Canada share a close and historic defence relationship; we remain the only two members of NATO, the G8, the G20 and the Commonwealth. UK armed forces work across a whole range of bilateral activities with their Canadian counterparts. This relationship was invigorated by the endorsement of the Canada-UK Joint Declaration in September 2011 by the Prime Minister and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In addition, we are pursuing areas through NATO where we can deliver closer ties across defence, particularly as we refocus post-Afghanistan; working with Canada is part of this effort.

Conditions of Employment

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of civil servants in his Department have requested (a) part-time, (b) job-share or (c) other flexible working arrangements in each of the last five years; and how many such requests were granted.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	No information is held on either the number of requests made, or the number of civil servants working under flexible working arrangements.
	However, the number of civilian staff who were granted part-time working arrangements, including job share arrangements, in the last five years is shown in the following table. The 2012 figures reflect the position to 30 November 2012.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 903 
			 2009 801 
			 2010 753 
			 2011 663 
			 2012 437 
			 Total 3,557 
		
	
	As at 30 November 2012, there are 4,963 part-time civilian employees in the Ministry of Defence.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time equivalent staff were employed on consultancy contracts in his Department on the latest date for which figures are available; how many such staff were employed on the same date 12 months ago; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: We contract for external assistance with consultancy companies to deliver a specific output at an agreed price. The number of individual consultants actually employed is a commercial matter for the contractor involved.
	All spending on consultancy complies with the tighter controls announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) on 24 May 2010, details of which can be found at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-controls-guidance
	Expenditure on consultancy is now published annually in UK Defence Statistics and can be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/modintranet/UKDS/UKDS2011/c1/trans_sup.php

Consultants

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the highest daily rate paid by his Department to a consultant with an existing contract is;
	(2)  what the average daily rate paid by his Department to consultants with an existing contract is;
	(3)  what the highest hourly rate charged to his Department is by a consultant with an existing contract in the (a) current and (b) previous financial year;
	(4)  what the current average hourly rate charged to his Department is by consultants with an existing contract;
	(5)  what the average daily rate charged to his Department is by consultants with an existing contract;
	(6)  what is the current highest daily rate charged to his Department by a consultant with an existing contract.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	We contract for external assistance with consultancy companies to deliver a specific output at an agreed price. The daily rate paid to individual consultants is a commercial matter for the contractor involved.
	All spending on consultancy complies with the tighter controls announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), details of which can be found at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-controls-guidance
	Expenditure on consultancy is now published annually in UK Defence Statistics and can be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/modintranet/UKDS/UKDS2011/c1/trans_sup.php

Dalgety Bay

Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of reports on the incidence of cancer in the Dalgety Bay area.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence has made no assessment of the recent reports concerning the incidence of cancer as this is not within its remit.

Dalgety Bay

Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether he has received any representations about the repositioning of radioactive materials from the Dalgety Bay foreshore;
	(2)  whether his talks with Moray Estates on Dalgety Bay foreshore have taken place; and what the result was of any such talks.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence has not received any representations about the repositioning of radioactive materials from the Dalgety Bay foreshore.
	No discussions have occurred or are planned with Moray Estates.

Defence

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on the plans announced by the Prime Minister at Farnborough Air Show on 10 July 2012 to create a defence and security industry initiative to parallel the Aerospace Grants Partnership; what areas of activity will be covered by the initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: We support the work that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), is leading to develop the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP). This will bring industry and Government together to identify ways to remove barriers to growth and enhance the competitiveness of the UK defence sector. It is an opportunity to build on the work, as set out in the National Security Through Technology White Paper (CM 8278), to encourage UK-based companies to fulfil our requirements and export successfully. The partnership will look at a range of issues, including how we exploit links between civil and military technologies, skills required for the sector, and how there can be more flexibility in the workforce between the defence sector and advanced manufacturers.
	BIS has been holding discussions with industry and its representatives to determine the framework for the DGP's work. The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), will co-chair the DGP on behalf of the Government and we will shortly announce the name of the industry co-chair.

Defence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the significance of the (a) aerospace, (b) naval and (c) military ground vehicle industry as a component of the UK's defence industrial base; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: The Government recognises the significant contribution the UK defence industry makes in supplying our armed forces. The defence industry is an integral part of our advanced manufacturing base and UK companies have some of the most high-tech manufacturing facilities in the world. As we set out in the National Security Through Technology White Paper (CM 8278) the best way for UK industry to remain strong is to be competitive. Our approach provides the right incentives to grow thriving, vibrant companies that can compete globally and supply the UK armed forces with the capabilities they require. This is why the White Paper also set out a range of Government action including sustaining investment in defence science and technology, encouraging small and medium sized enterprises to fulfil their potential, and increasing support to responsible defence exports.

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what airlift capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The airlift capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support costs for which funding is allocated:
	A330 Voyager
	A400M Atlas
	BAE 146 Quick Change

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what helicopter capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The helicopter capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support and training costs:
	Chinook Mk6 New Buy
	Apache Capability Sustainment Programme
	Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme
	Puma Life Extension Programme
	Falkland Island Search and Rescue and Support Helicopter
	Wildcat—Army and Navy variants

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, 
	(1)  what carrier strike capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme;
	(2)  what the surface fleet is in the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The Carrier Strike capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of the following equipment programmes and their support and training costs for which funding is allocated:
	Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers
	Joint Combat Aircraft
	Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Tankers
	Crowsnest—Airborne maritime surveillance and control, to be fitted to the Merlin Mk2 helicopter, which will replace the Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (SKASaC) system

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what fast jet capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The fast jet capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support and training costs for which funding is allocated:
	Typhoon Tranche 3
	F35-B Joint Strike Fighter (Lightning II)
	Typhoon Future Capability Package 1
	Typhoon Future Capability Package 2

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what heavy armoured platforms are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The heavy armoured platforms in the Core Equipment Programme consist of the following in-service capabilities:
	Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank
	AS90 Self Propelled Artillery piece
	Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle
	Titan Armoured Bridge Layer
	Trojan Armoured Engineer Vehicle

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support costs for which funding is allocated:
	Aircrew Protective Equipment and Detection
	Hazard Management
	Light Role Team Enhancement
	Medical Countermeasures
	Networked Biological, Radiological, and Chemical Information System
	Personal Decontamination

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what submarine capabilities form part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The submarine capabilities in the Core Equipment Programme consist of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support and training costs for which funding is allocated:
	Astute Class submarines
	Successor programme to replace the Vanguard Class submarines. The main investment decision is due in 2016.
	Maritime Underwater Future Capability

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-64, on defence budget and transformation, whether the cost of personnel from all three services is included as part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The cost of service personnel is not included as part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-64, on defence budget and transformation, whether any items on the single integrated priority list are included in the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: The Single Integrated Priority List is a consolidated list of the Ministry of Defence's future priorities for investment in military capability. It is separate from the core equipment programme, which consists of those equipment programmes to which we have already made a commitment to invest, their support costs, and the support costs for in-service equipment.
	During the course of Annual Budgeting Cycle 13, the new discipline in our budgetary regime has allowed us to give the go ahead for a series of equipment projects, some of which were previously on the Single Integrated Priority List, which have now been brought into the core equipment programme. This includes targeting pods for fast jets, 76 additional Foxhound patrol vehicles, better protection systems for Tornado GR4, additional precision-guided Paveway IV bombs and enhancements to Merlin helicopters.

Defence Equipment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 14 May 2012, Official Report, columns 261-4, on defence budget and transformation, what Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance capabilities are part of the Core Equipment Programme.

Philip Dunne: Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) in the Core Equipment Programme consists of current in-service capabilities plus the following equipment programmes and their support costs for which funding is allocated:
	Airseeker—Airborne signals intelligence
	Crowsnest—Airborne maritime surveillance and control
	Scavenger—Future armed operational unmanned air system (UAS)
	Seaseeker—Maritime electronic surveillance
	Seer—Tactical electronic surveillance deployed on land
	Sentinel—Airborne wide area surveillance
	Sentry—Air command and control and situational awareness
	Solomon—A programme to improve the coordination and dissemination of ISTAR
	Watchkeeper—Tactical UAS

Defence Equipment and Support

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) civilian and (b) military staff have been employed at (i) COD Donnington and (ii) COD Bicester by Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: Figures for 2005 and 2006 cannot be supplied because Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) was not formed until 2007. The number of civilian staff employed by DE&S at the Central Ordnance Depots Donnington and Bicester, as at 1 April each year since 2007 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 (i) Civilian staff 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 COD Donnington 614 669 609 613 588 577 
			 COD Bicester 866 832 719 756 656 613 
		
	
	Information on military personnel before 2008 is not held. The overall numbers of military personnel involved in COD tasks over the years 2008 to 2012 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 (ii) Military staff 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Donnington 14 12 10 14 8 
			 Bicester 66 48 56 54 40 
			 Total 80 60 66 68 48

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the number of people who will be employed by his Department's Defence Infrastructure Organisation in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in 2014.

Mark Francois: The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) transformation programme will determine both the future operating model and most appropriate corporate structure for the DIO. Further work is ongoing on the future laydown of personnel and bases; this is expected to report in early 2013.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which companies have given a formal expression of interest to become the Defence Infrastructure Organisation's strategic business partner.

Mark Francois: Following an exercise which saw over 50 companies expressing initial interest in becoming the Strategic Business Partner to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, seven formal Pre-Qualification Questionnaires were received. After evaluation, the following three consortia have been selected to continue in the competition:
	Telereal Trillium/KPMG/Mace
	Serco/DTZ/Bechtel
	Capita/URS/PA Consulting

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many platforms have had the assessment phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on the (a) overall cost of programmes and (b) in-service dates;
	(2)  how many platforms have had the detail of the manufacturing phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on the (a) overall cost of programmes and (b) in-service dates;
	(3)  how many platforms have had the detail of their development phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on the (a) overall cost of programmes and (b) in-service dates;
	(4)  how many platforms have had the detail of the disposal phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on the (a) overall cost of programmes and (b) in-service dates;
	(5)  how many platforms have had the detail of their in-service phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on the (a) overall cost of programmes and (b) in-service dates.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many and which platforms have had their in-service date changed since May 2010;
	(2)  how many platforms have had the detail of the Concept phase of the procurement cycle altered since May 2010; and what the effect has been on (a) the overall cost of the programme across its lifespan and (b) its in-service date in each case.

Philip Dunne: holding answers 6 and 10 December 2012
	We do not routinely publish in-service dates (ISD) and costs for projects which have not passed their main investment decision as to do so would risk prejudicing the Department's commercial position. I am therefore withholding the information requested about projects in their assessment phase.
	The following major projects (that is, those with an acquisition value greater than £100 million) which were in the demonstration and manufacture stage had changes made to their ISD or costs due to deliberate decisions made by the Department. I have excluded changes to projects caused by unforeseen factors or factors outside the Department's control. The details of changes to the following platforms can be found in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2010 and the NAO Major Projects Report 2011:
	Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers
	Joint Combat Aircraft
	Astute class submarines
	T45 Destroyer
	Nimrod MRA4.
	Two other projects which were post Main Gate have been delayed. The details of these decisions are commercially sensitive and their release could prejudice the Department's negotiations with its industrial partners.
	Twenty-seven platforms have had the length of their expected time in-service altered as a result of departmental planning round decisions taken since May 2010. The expected financial impact of these changes was a saving of around £4.8 billion over the course of the decade. Of the 30 individual decisions (some platforms had more than one decision attached to them over this period), the effect of 21 of them was to bring forward the out-of-service date (OSD) and the effect of nine of them was to delay it.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent decisions have been taken by the Major Projects Review Board to alter the timeline of scope of specific platforms;
	(2)  what the net total saving to his Department was directly arising from the work of the Major Projects Review Board in the latest period for which figures are available.

Philip Dunne: The purpose of the Major Projects Review Board is regularly to review the Ministry of Defence (MOD) most significant projects and in particular those at risk of failure. Its aim is to ensure that projects keep to the cost and time parameters agreed by the Department’s Investment Approvals Committee and HM Treasury at the major investment decision point.
	It was agreed by the then Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), in June 2011 that the discussions would not be made public to protect any commercial confidentialities and the provision of free and frank advice to Ministers. However, where projects of concern were identified, these would be publicly listed. There has only been one project of concern listed to date, which was Project Valiant Jetty.
	The latest edition of the NAO’s Major Project Review is due for publication in early January 2013 and this will provide review and analysis of the MOD’s project performance, how the Department seeks to control cost and timeline and the performance of major acquisition projects.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence equipment and support contracts his Department has renegotiated in the latest period for which figures are available; and what saving accrued from each such renegotiation.

Philip Dunne: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 October 2012, Official Report, column 665W, to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck).

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have worked in defence procurement in his Department for a period of two years or more.

Philip Dunne: Information on the number of armed forces personnel that have worked in any aspect of defence procurement for over two years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In terms of those armed forces personnel currently employed in Defence Equipment and Support, of 3,817 posts, 18 have served in their current posts for two years or more as at 30 November 2012.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence over what period the £8 billion contingency in the defence equipment and support budget will be available.

Philip Dunne: I refer the right hon. Member to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 14 May 2012, Official Report , columns 261-65.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which countries the UK has procured defence (a) equipment and (b) support services from in each financial year since 2000-01 by contract value.

Philip Dunne: The compilation of statistics relating to imports of defence equipment or support services was discontinued under the last administration. The final set of statistics relating to defence imports for 2007 were published in UK Defence Statistics 2008 which can be viewed at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/modintranet/UKDS/UKDS2008/c1/table113.html

Defence: Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings (a) he and (b) each Minister in his Department had with defence contractors on the renegotiation of defence contracts since May 2010.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 10 December 2012
	As part of routine business, Defence Ministers hold regular meetings on a number of issues with our major contractors. These include discussions on defence equipment and support programmes.

European Fighter Aircraft

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made on the development of the e-scan radar planned for deployment on Typhoon aircraft; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 3 December 2012
	The Typhoon partner nations are currently assessing industry proposals for a range of options to integrate e-scan radar onto the Typhoon fleet as part of the project's assessment phase activity.

Germany

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2012, Official Report, column 246W, on Germany, if he will list each meeting in the last six months he has had with ministerial colleagues on the withdrawal of British military bases from Germany.

Andrew Robathan: A specific list of meetings on the withdrawal of British military bases from Germany is not held. However Ministers and Ministry of Defence officials continue to have regular meetings on a range of issues some of which will have included basing.

Investment Approvals Committee

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Investment Approvals Committee will next meet; and what items will be discussed at this meeting.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence Investment Approvals Committee will next meet on 16 January 2013. The Committee will discuss a range of equipment capability projects.

ISTAR

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish his Department’s assessment of the UK’s ISTAR requirements.

Andrew Robathan: It would be inappropriate to publish a full assessment of the UK’s intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) requirements as its disclosure could prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Leasing

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department complies with accounting requirements with regard to leases.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence's policies on leases, and action to be taken to comply with accounting standards and legislation, can be found on page 120 of the 2011-12 annual report, a copy of which is available in the Vote Office. It is also available on the MOD website at the following address:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the last TriStar aircraft will be retired; and what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the service life of those aircraft to that date.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 October 2012, Official Report, column 297W.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he is giving to the procurement of an alternative model of attack helicopter if the Apache AH-64D cannot be upgraded at an acceptable price.

Philip Dunne: The Attack Helicopter Capability Sustainment Programme is currently in its concept phase. All viable options are being investigated to maintain operational attack helicopter capability and no decisions have been made.

Military Alliances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that robust budgets are being adhered to in collaborative defence projects.

Philip Dunne: Before approval is given for any major investment decision, including international collaborative defence projects, the business case and contracts are subjected to rigorous independent departmental and cross-departmental scrutiny and due diligence. This scrutiny includes the cost assurance, value for money, commercial rigour and affordability of the proposals.
	As is the case with national programmes, international collaborative proposals must demonstrate that they represent a cost-effective approach throughout the procurement process.

Military Alliances

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department was of military collaboration projects (a) in the EU, (b) with non-EU countries, excluding the US and (c) with the US in the last year.

Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence expenditure on military collaboration equipment projects for the financial year 2011-12 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Military collaboration projects Expenditure (£ million) 
			 EU 2,503 
			 Non-EU 27 
			 US 481 
		
	
	Two projects include a collaboration of EU, non-EU countries and the US which have been included in the non-EU category above.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many detectives have been employed by the Ministry of Defence Police in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence Police Criminal Investigation Department's strength as at the end of March in each year is as follows:
	
		
			 As at March each year: Strength 
			 2005 148 
			 2006 150 
			 2007 162 
			 2008 189 
			 2009 182 
			 2010 180 
			 2011 165 
			 2012 147

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimated value of fraud has been the trigger for an investigation by Ministry of Defence Police in each year between 2005 and 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Ministry of Defence Police investigations, including fraud, are generally determined in terms of whether the crime impacts significantly against Defence capability rather than a predetermined value.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the investigation responsibilities are of the (a) Ministry of Defence Police and (b) Royal Military Police; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The general responsibility for the maintenance and enforcement of the criminal law in the United Kingdom rests with local police forces. However, the service police have a concurrent jurisdiction over all persons subject to the Armed Forces Act 2006. The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) also have a concurrent jurisdiction (under the MDP Act 1987), over what may very broadly be described as defence property and defence personnel. In some cases it will be more appropriate for the MDP or service police to deal with defence-related crime. A flexible approach, based on consultation and agreement at local level, is encouraged, where the respective police forces discuss who is best placed to take action based on availability of resources, jurisdiction and the public interest. These arrangements are set out in Home Office Circular 028/2008 ‘A Protocol between police forces and the Ministry of Defence Police’.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Ministry of Defence Police to investigating theft from the Ministry of Defence.

Mark Francois: The general responsibility for the maintenance and enforcement of the criminal law in the UK rests with local police forces. However, in order to counter its major crime threats and risks, the Ministry of Defence has a requirement for dedicated Ministry of Defence police resources to be focused on the prevention and investigation of fraud, corruption and theft of key Defence equipment and assets, the loss of which would have a significant impact on Defence operational effectiveness, and the recovery of such equipment and assets. The MOD has assessed that such capabilities should remain available to it.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of future manpower requirements for the Ministry of Defence Police; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Work is currently under way to determine the future Ministry of Defence police requirements across the United Kingdom.

Official Hospitality

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent for hospitality purposes on (a) Champagne, (b) wines, (c) spirits, (d) soft drinks, (e) flowers, (f) laundry, (g) porterage, (h) china, (i) cutlery and (j) venue hire since May 2010.

Mark Francois: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on overall hospitality and entertainment expenditure is published in the annual report, which is available on the Ministry of Defence website at the following address:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-12

Overseas Workers

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which countries staff of his Department are permanently based.

Mark Francois: Military and civilian employment figures in countries where staff are permanently based, are published in the United Kingdom Defence Statistics Quarterly Location Statistics Tables 1.1a (all personnel) and Tables 1.1b (military broken down by service) showing the position as at 1 October 2012.
	These figures can be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index. php?page=48&thiscontent=120&pubType=0&date=2012-11- 22&disText=01%20Oct%202012&from=historic&topDate=2012-11- 22&PublishTime=09:30:00

Pay

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in each of the last two years.

Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) on 31 October 2012, Official Report, columns 294-95W. I reiterate that the performance-related element of pay, colloquially referred to as a 'bonus' is actually part of the Ministry of Defence's pay bill, an arrangement set up by the previous Government. Such payments are non-pensionable, and reduce the overall cost of employing civil servants.

Piracy

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for which trade routes the UK participates in counter-piracy operations.

Andrew Robathan: The UK contributes to three multi-national counter-piracy operations in the Indian ocean region, principally to protect the trade route through the gulf of Aden. These are Combined Maritime Forces’ Combined Task Force 151, the EU’s Operation Atalanta and NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield.
	These commitments are consistent with the policy of the previous Government. In addition, the UK is providing personnel to the European Union’s regional maritime capacity-building mission to Somalia and the Indian ocean EUCAP Nestor. The UK is also a member of the Singapore-based Regional Co-operation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP) in Asia.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the project licences granted under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for use in Porton Down involve collaboration with defence agencies from the US; and for what reasons such collaboration was undertaken in each case.

Philip Dunne: A total of six of the currently active project licences in operation at Dstl Porton Down cover work that is funded directly by US Defence Agencies. Additionally, the work performed under a large proportion of the remaining 15 licences, although not funded by the US, produces results that are shared through a number of different collaborative agreements with our US and other international partners.
	Dstl has a remit to undertake research on behalf of the UK Government. This can involve participation in International Collaboration Programmes with other allied nations on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. This collaboration results in burden sharing and means that our use of animals in research studies can be reduced below that which would be required if we were not to collaborate.

Public Expenditure

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value will be of resources transferred from the 2011-12 defence budget to the 2012-13 budget for the Ministry of Defence.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 11 December 2012
	No resources were transferred from 2011-12 to 2012-13.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to Table 2.2 of the Autumn Statement, 
	(1)  from where the saving of £245 million to his Department's resource budget is to be made in 2013-14;
	(2)  how much of the reduction in his Department's budget in 2013-14 is accounted for by unallocated provision.

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the savings announced in the Autumn Statement on the contingency for the Core Equipment Programme;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the savings announced in the Autumn Statement on the Core Equipment Programme in each year from 2014-15.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The saving of £245 million required in 2013-14 will be found from the Departmental Unallocated Provision from 2012-13, which the Treasury has agreed can be carried forward.
	The autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-822, announced reductions in the Defence Resource budget in 2013-14 and 2014-15. This had no effect on the Core Equipment Programme in these years, including the contingency, which remains in excess of £4 billion over the 10-year budget period.
	The 2013 spending review will set departmental budgets for 2015-16, but HM Treasury have confirmed that the Department can continue to plan on an assumption of a 1% real terms annual increase in the MOD Equipment Programme from 2015.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the Autumn Statement, how much of the reduction in his Department's budget in 2013-14 results from underspends in 2011-12.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 12 December 2012
	None of the reductions in the MOD's budget in 2013-14 results from underspend in 2011-12.

Public Expenditure

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the savings announced in the autumn statement on the planned annual increase in the defence equipment and support budget from 2015.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The savings announced in the autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, relate only to financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15, and therefore have no effect on the planned annual increase in the Defence Equipment and Support budget from 2015. The Treasury have confirmed that the Department can continue to plan on the assumption of a 1% real terms annual increase in the Ministry of Defence Equipment programme from 2015.

Public Expenditure

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the autumn statement, whether the flexibilities agreed with HM Treasury are permanent.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The improved financial discipline that the Ministry of Defence has demonstrated has enabled us to agree exceptional flexibilities with HM Treasury this year. We will continue to pursue improvements in our financial management and will expect to have, as a minimum, access to Budget Exchange on the same basis as all other Departments, in future years.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the Autumn Statement, how much of the reduction in his Department's budget in 2014-15 is accounted for by departmental underspend in 2011-12.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 12 December 2012
	None of the reduction in the MOD's budget in 2014-15 is accounted for by departmental underspend in 2011-12.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the Autumn Statement 2012, from which categories of expenditure the projected saving of £490 million in 2014-15 will be made.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	The Treasury has agreed that the MOD can carry forward its unallocated provision. This is adequate to absorb the budget reduction of £490 million in 2014-15 that was announced in the autumn statement.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from what baseline the annual real one per cent increase in the defence budget post-2015 will be delivered.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	HM Treasury have confirmed that the MOD can continue to plan on the assumption of a 1% real terms annual increase in the Equipment Programme from 2015. The baseline remains as set by HM Treasury at the conclusion of the three month exercise in July 2011.

Public Expenditure

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much unallocated provision existed within his Department's budget in 2011-12.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	None; we started making unallocated provision from financial year 2012-13.

Public Expenditure

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what changes he plans to make to the Single Integrated Priority List as a result of the £245 million reduction in his Department's spending in 2013-14 announced in the Autumn Statement 2012;
	(2)  what changes he plans to make to the Single Integrated Priority List as a result of the £490 million reduction in his Department's spending in 2014-15 announced in the Autumn Statement 2012.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	None. The savings required will be found from the departmental unallocated provision.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the definition is of unallocated provisions as included in his Department's budget.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	Departmental unallocated provision is a contingency reserve held centrally to meet unforeseen pressures. It is not allocated to individual programmes, or for specific purposes, until needed.

Public Expenditure

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the amount was of his Department's underspend in 2011-12.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 13 December 2012
	We have published this information in the Statement of Parliamentary Supply on pages 108 and 109 of the MOD's 2011-12 Annual Report and Accounts (HC 62), laid before the House on 6 December 2012. This publication is also available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-12

Reserve Forces

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the planned annual running cost of the Reserve Force is in each year between 2012 and 2020;
	(2)  what the projected annual running cost of the Reserve Force is once it has reached a complement of 30,000 personnel.

Mark Francois: In a force where regular and reserve elements are increasingly integrated it is becoming more difficult to separate the running costs of one from the other. There are costs associated with, for example, infrastructure, training and equipment that cannot readily be separated. For that reason, it is not possible to provide a precise figure for running costs of the Reserve Forces. However, the MOD plans to invest an additional £1.8 billion in the Reserves to increase and develop their trained strength and to enhance their capability over the period to 2020.

Reserve Forces

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what (a) training courses, (b) postings and (c) deployments for Reserve Forces under Reservists 2020 plans will take longer than 13 weeks;
	(2)  what training the UK Reserve Forces will be expected to undertake under the Future Reserves 2020 measures.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Reservists will be given the training courses that they need to carry out their role in the integrated force. The aim is to provide a sufficient foundation on which to add further training should there be a requirement to mobilise an individual reservist or reserve sub-unit. This varies by service in accordance with their need, but will require an average annual commitment, after initial training, of between 24 to 40 days per year, which would normally involve a continuous training period of between 10 to 16 days.
	There will be parity between reservists and regulars where it is appropriate, such as pre-deployment training for operations. With the exception of a small cadre of reservists held at high readiness, the intention of both the Royal Navy and the Army is for Maritime and Army reservists to be mobilised for no more than one six month deployment in any five year period. Air reservists are expected to work on a mobilisation cycle of around one six month deployment every three years. With the exception of pre-deployment training there are no training courses that exceed 13 weeks.

Reserve Forces

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Reservists 2020 plan will provide reservists with service accommodation.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	It is too early to say. Reservist conditions of service are being reviewed as part of the Future Reserves 2020 Consultation Exercise.
	Under current tri-service accommodation regulations, volunteer reserve service carries no entitlement to publicly funded single living or service families accommodation. During periods of authorised training and mobilised service, single services administer and provide reservists with accommodation at public expense to achieve the necessary standards of training and/or operational capability.

Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of senior civil servants have left (a) his Department and (b) each of the public bodies for which he is responsible since May 2010; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each such body since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Between 1 May 2010 and 31 October 2012, 98 senior civil servants left the Department. This figure includes those that have retired, resigned, died in service or left on voluntary release terms. The figure does not include individuals who have permanently transferred to other Government Departments or who have transferred on temporary loan.
	Turnover of staff is calculated on an annual basis and defined as the number of leavers divided by the average strength of substantive senior civil servants and excludes those on temporary promotion. The average strength of substantive senior civil servants during this period is 240.
	The annual turnover rates for financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the figures for the previous 12 months are as follows:
	
		
			  Turnover (percentage) 
			 1 May 2010 to 30 April 2011 7.7 
			 1 May 2011 to 30 April 2012 25.3 
			 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012 24.0

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, columns 497-8W, on sick leave, what assessment he has made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost due to ill health between officers at AA grade and at SCS grade; and what assessment he has made of the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost in his Department.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to take a robust approach to managing civilian sickness absence, and a major review of absence policies has ensured that they remain relevant. Occupational health and well-being advice and support is available to all employees and line managers.
	No specific assessment has been made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost between the various grades, although part of the explanation for the higher rates seen in the lowest grades is that industrial staff, who undertake physically demanding civilian roles in the Ministry of Defence, are clustered predominantly in equivalent grades AA, AO and EO. Industrial staff have historically had higher rates of sickness absence than those of equivalent graded office-based staff. This Department is unique in this respect, in that it employs over 80% of all industrial staff in the civil service.
	The Ministry of Defence has made no assessment as to the utility of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing sick absence. Officials do, however, remain fully aware of evolving best practice in health and well-being.

Staff

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of staff were employed in his Department in each financial year since 2008.

Mark Francois: The headcount for UK regular forces excluding Gurkhas, full-time reserve service personnel and mobilised reservists, is as follows, as of 1 April each year:
	
		
			  Headcount 
			 2008 186,910 
			 2009 188,600 
			 2010 191,660 
			 2011 186,360 
			 2012 179,800 
		
	
	The headcount for civilian personnel as of 1 April each year is as follows:
	
		
			  Headcount 
			 2008 93,670 
			 2009 90,630 
			 2010 89,970 
			 2011 87,060 
			 2012 73,960 
		
	
	The total headcount combining UK regular forces and civilian personnel as of 1 April each year is as follows:
	
		
			  Headcount 
			 2008 280,580 
			 2009 279,230 
			 2010 281,630 
			 2011 273,420 
			 2012 253,760 
		
	
	Military and civilian employment figures are published in the United Kingdom Armed Forces Quarterly Personnel Report and the Quarterly Civilian Personnel Report which can be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48&pubType=1&thiscontent=240&PublishTime =09:30:00&date=2012-11-15&disText=01%20 October%202012&from=listing&top Date=2012-11-15
	and
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48&pubType=1&thiscontent=510&PublishTime =09:30:00&date=2012-11-08&disText=1%20October %202012&from =listing&topDate=2012-11-08
	respectively.

Staff

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of civilian staff are employed by his Department.

Mark Francois: Civilian employment figures are published in the Quarterly Civilian Personnel Report and the position at 1 October 2012 is 70,360. This is a reduction of 19,610 personnel from the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) baseline figure of 89,970 personnel on 1 April 2010.
	These figures can also be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48&pubType=1&thiscontent=510&PublishTime =09:30:00&date=2012-11-08&disText=l%20October%202012 &from=listing&topDate=2012-11-08

Temporary Employment

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff on casual contracts have been working in his Department for a period of (a) less than six months, (b) six months or longer, (c) 12 months or longer and (d) 18 months or longer.

Mark Francois: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The number of staff on casual contracts currently working in the Ministry of Defence is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Period of casual contract Number of casual staff 
			 Less than six months 93 
			 Six to 11 months 2 
			 12 to 17 months 1 
			 18+ months 0

Theft

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bridgend of 30 November 2012, Official Report, columns 562-64W, on theft, to which service the pony listed was attached; and for what purpose the service used the pony.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	The pony in question is not owned by any of the services, and is not funded by MOD; it belongs to the Royal Artillery Equestrian Centre and has been used by the Royal Artillery Saddle Club, although it is now retired.

Trident Submarines

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on the (a) maintenance, (b) operation and (c) re-fitting of Trident submarines in each of the last 10 years.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 7 November 2012, Official Report, column 629W.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to encourage recruiting for the armed forces from the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mark Francois: holding answer 10 December 2012
	There are no specific plans to encourage recruiting outside of the UK. The services recognise and value the contribution which foreign and Commonwealth personnel including those from the overseas territories have made, and continue to make, to our armed forces. Anyone with access to the internet can access the services' recruiting websites and apply to join if they meet published eligibility criteria, including those from Turks and Caicos. However the recruitment process is conducted in the UK and applicants must have the right to remain in the UK during that period, as is the case for all applicants for the armed forces, except Gurkhas.

Veterans: Plymouth

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service leavers in Plymouth are in employment six months after leaving the services.

Mark Francois: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Veterans: Plymouth

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen and women based in Plymouth (a) retired from and (b) otherwise left the armed services in 2011-12.

Mark Francois: The following table shows the numbers of UK regular forces who were permanently based in Plymouth on 1 April 2011 and who subsequently left their service in the financial year 2011-12. Details are available for those who left voluntarily (voluntary outflow(1)), for those who completed their contract (time expiry) and for those who left for any other reason (other). We are not able to further break down the data to provide numbers for those who retired.
	(1 )Voluntary outflow is defined as all exits from trained UK regular forces which are voluntarily generated by the individual before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.
	
		
			 Table 1: Numbers of UK regular forces (1)  permanently based in Plymouth on 1 April 2011 who left service in the financial year 2011-12 
			  Total Army Navy (2) RAF 
			 Total 840 30 800 (3)— 
			 Voluntary Outflow 320 20 310 (3)— 
			 Time expiry 141 10 130 (3)— 
			 Other 370 10 360 (3)— 
			 (1 )UK regular forces includes all trained and untrained personnel. Gurkhas, full-time reserve personnel, and mobilised reservists are excluded. Due to the rounding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias. (2 )Naval service personnel on sea service are included against the local authority containing the home port of their ship. (3 )Fewer than 5.

Warships

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maximum speed will be of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier and the Astute Class submarine.

Philip Dunne: I am withholding details of the maximum speed of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and the Astute Class submarines, as their release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Public Appointments

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many public appointments (a) regulated by and (b) not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments have been made by her Department since 2007; and in how many such cases the services of recruitment consultants were retained.

Maria Miller: The Minister for Women and Equalities has made the following public appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, since 2007.
	
		
			 Organisation 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Women's National Commission 0 10 4 0 n/a n/a 
			 Equality and Human Rights Commission 3 0 12 1 1 3 
			 Note: Includes reappointments 
		
	
	The services of recruitment consultants were used for all new appointments except those to the Women's National Commission in 2008.
	The Minister for Women and Equalities made the following appointments not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments since 2007.
	
		
			 Appointment 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Voice of Older People — 1 — — — — 
			 Women's Business Council — — — — — 9 
			 Equality and Human Rights Commission — — — — — (1)2 
			 Public Sector Equality Duty Review — — — — — 1 
			 (1 )The non-regulated appointments to the Equality and Human Rights Commission were interim appointments.

HEALTH

Breast Cancer: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of breast cancer screening procedures in Hartlepool constituency; what discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS Hartlepool and (b) North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation on the provision of (i) skilled breast cancer specialists and (ii) up-to-date breast cancer equipment in Hartlepool; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the supply and operation of the digital breast screening service in Hartlepool constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The provision of services, including cancer services, is a matter for the local national health service. As such, the Department has made no assessment of the breast cancer screening service in Hartlepool.
	In addition, there have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Health or other Ministers with Hartlepool Primary Care Trust or North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust about the provision of skilled breast cancer specialists or breast cancer equipment in Hartlepool. Local health care organisations, with their knowledge of the patients that they serve, are best placed to plan and deliver a workforce appropriate to the needs of their patients based on clinical need and sound evidence. The provision of equipment, including breast cancer equipment, is also a matter for the local NHS.

Carbon Monoxide

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many local authorities are planning to use Warm Homes Healthy People funding received in 2012-13 to install carbon monoxide detectors in vulnerable households.

Anna Soubry: Information on the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in vulnerable households by local authorities has not been routinely collected as part of the Warm Homes Healthy People £20 million funding for 2012-13.
	However, an analysis of the proposals shows that 14 local authority proposals covering 16 local authorities have included the installation of carbon monoxide detectors as part of their projects.
	The Department has also awarded national grants to the value of £1.5 million to Age UK and the Foundations Independent Living Trust to complement the work carried out by local authorities.
	As part of the Age UK proposals, local and national handyperson services will check if households have a working carbon monoxide detector and, where needed, will install a new one, with the aim of a roll out of the installation of free carbon monoxide detectors nationwide.
	The Cold Weather Plan for England 2012 which was published on 26 October 2012, recognises that carbon monoxide poisoning is a potential killer and urges individuals to consider fitting an audible carbon monoxide alarm which is EN 50291-compliaht, but that fitting an alarm should not replace regular maintenance of appliances.

Care Homes: Fees and Charges

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 386-7W, on care homes: fees and charges, if he will place in the Library a copy of the tables and working papers that set out the assumptions and data used to draw the graph in figure 14 of the Progress Report.

Norman Lamb: In the Progress Report on Funding Reform, figure 14 sets out the indicative proportion of assets depleted under the current system, and with different levels of the cap (with an extended means test) for someone with very high residential care costs, by their initial level of assets on going into care. It highlights how this corresponds to wealth quintiles for older people in care.
	This analysis is based on around eight years in residential care, costing £150,000 (plus £10,000 per annum general living costs). It assumes that people buy their care at the local authority rate—someone paying a higher rate for their care could spend more over their lifetime; and that they can pay £10,000 per annum living cost from their income—estimates would be different for people with higher or lower income.
	The following table shows the data presented in figure 14 in the Progress Report.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 Assets Current system £25,000 £35,000 £50,000 £75,000 £100,000 
			 £0,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 £5,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 £10,000 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 £15,000 4 1 2 2 3 3 
			 £20,000 23 7 9 12 17 20 
			 £25,000 36 11 14 19 25 30 
			 £30,000 47 13 17 23 31 36 
			 £35,000 54 15 19 26 35 41 
			 £40,000 60 16 21 28 38 44 
			 £45,000 64 17 22 29 40 47 
			 £50,000 67 18 23 31 42 49 
			 £55,000 70 18 24 32 43 51 
			 £60,000 72 19 25 33 44 52 
		
	
	
		
			 £65,000 74 19 25 34 46 54 
			 £70,000 76 20 26 34 46 55 
			 £75,000 77 20 26 35 47 56 
			 £80,000 78 20 27 35 48 57 
			 £85,000 79 20 27 36 49 57 
			 £90,000 80 21 27 36 49 58 
			 £95,000 81 21 28 37 50 59 
			 £100,000 82 21 28 37 50 59 
			 £105,000 83 21 28 37 50 59 
			 £110,000 83 21 28 37 51 60 
			 £115,000 84 21 28 37 51 60 
			 £120,000 84 21 28 37 50 60 
			 £125,000 85 20 27 37 50 60 
			 £130,000 85 19 27 36 50 60 
			 £135,000 85 19 26 36 50 60 
			 £140,000 86 18 25 35 49 59 
			 £145,000 86 17 24 34 48 59 
			 £150,000 86 17 23 33 48 59 
			 £155,000 86 16 23 32 47 58 
			 £160,000 86 16 22 31 46 57 
			 £165,000 87 15 21 30 45 57 
			 £170,000 87 15 21 29 44 56 
			 £175,000 86 14 20 29 43 55 
			 £180,000 83 14 19 28 42 54 
			 £185,000 81 14 19 27 41 53 
			 £190,000 79 13 18 26 39 52 
			 £195,000 77 13 18 26 38 51 
			 £200,000 75 13 18 25 38 50 
			 £205,000 73 12 17 24 37 49 
			 £210,000 71 12 17 24 36 48 
			 £215,000 70 12 16 23 35 47 
			 £220,000 68 11 16 23 34 45 
			 £225,000 67 11 16 22 33 44 
			 £230,000 65 11 15 22 33 43 
			 £235,000 64 11 15 21 32 43 
			 £240,000 63 10 15 21 31 42 
			 £245,000 61 10 14 20 31 41 
			 £250,000 60 10 14 20 30 40 
			 £255,000 59 10 14 20 29 39 
			 £260,000 58 10 13 19 29 38 
			 £265,000 57 9 13 19 28 38 
			 £270,000 56 9 13 19 28 37 
			 £275,000 55 9 13 18 27 36 
			 £280,000 54 9 13 18 27 36 
			 £285,000 53 9 12 18 26 35 
			 £290,000 52 9 12 17 26 34 
			 £295,000 51 8 12 17 25 34 
			 £300,000 50 8 12 17 25 33 
			 £305,000 49 8 11 16 25 33 
			 £310,000 48 8 11 16 24 32 
			 £315,000 48 8 11 16 24 32 
			 £320,000 47 8 11 16 23 31 
			 £325,000 46 8 11 15 23 31 
			 £330,000 45 8 11 15 23 30 
			 £335,000 45 7 10 15 22 30 
			 £340,000 44 7 10 15 22 29 
			 £345,000 43 7 10 14 22 29 
			 £350,000 43 7 10 14 21 29 
			 £355,000 42 7 10 14 21 28 
			 £360,000 42 7 10 14 21 28 
			 £365,000 41 7 10 14 21 27 
			 £370,000 41 7 9 14 20 27 
			 £375,000 40 7 9 13 20 27 
		
	
	
		
			 £380,000 39 7 9 13 20 26 
			 £385,000 39 6 9 13 19 26 
			 £390,000 38 6 9 13 19 26 
			 £395,000 38 6 9 13 19 25 
			 £400,000 38 6 9 13 19 25 
			 £405,000 37 6 9 12 19 25 
			 £410,000 37 6 9 12 18 24 
			 £415,000 36 6 8 12 18 24 
			 £420,000 36 6 8 12 18 24 
			 £425,000 35 6 8 12 18 24 
			 £430,000 35 6 8 12 17 23 
			 £435,000 34 6 8 11 17 23 
			 £440,000 34 6 8 11 17 23 
			 £445,000 34 6 8 11 17 22 
			 £450,000 33 6 8 11 17 22 
			 £455,000 33 5 8 11 16 22 
			 £460,000 33 5 8 11 16 22 
			 £465,000 32 5 8 11 16 22 
			 £470,000 32 5 7 11 16 21 
			 £475,000 32 5 7 11 16 21 
			 £480,000 31 5 7 10 16 21 
			 £485,000 31 5 7 10 15 21 
			 £490,000 31 5 7 10 15 20 
			 £495,000 30 5 7 10 15 20 
			 £500,000 30 5 7 10 15 20

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his policy is on whether accountable officers in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are able to undertake work outside the CCG;
	(2)  what code of conduct governs the behaviour of an accountable officer of a clinical commissioning group.

Daniel Poulter: It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine the appropriate performance measures for their governing body members. Nevertheless, all members of a CCG, including the accountable officer, will be expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Nolan Principles of ethical standards for holders of public office.
	The National Health Service Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, requires CCGs to describe in their constitutions how they will manage conflicts of interest, and ensure the transparency and integrity of their decision-making processes. CCGs will have to, for example, set out in their constitution the way in which decisions will be made, and how decision-making will be transparent; and have up-to-date registers of interests that are made available for public scrutiny.
	Accountable officers will be able to undertake work outside the CCG, for example, a clinician who is an accountable officer and who wants to continue to practise will be able to do so. However, they will be subject to the strict conflict of interest safeguards outlined above.

Dementia

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish a report of local progress against the National Dementia Strategy for England.

Norman Lamb: A progress report on the Prime Minister's challenge on dementia was published on 8 November 2012 and a further progress report will be published in March 2013. In addition to these progress reports, the Department has commissioned an audit of antipsychotic prescribing and a survey of memory services, both of which will be published in 2013.

Dental Services: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists in (a) the East of England, (b) Suffolk and (c) Bury St Edmunds constituency (i) are registering NHS patients and (ii) were so doing in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not held centrally.
	Under the current dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with a national health service dentist to receive NHS care.

Dental Services: West Yorkshire

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding he intends to allocate for the provision of NHS dental care in Leeds in each of the next three years; what plans he has for future levels of access to NHS dentistry in Leeds; and how many people in (a) the city of Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire are registered with an NHS dentist.

Daniel Poulter: Funding for national health service services, including dentistry services, is currently allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs). PCTs commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations, taking account of national and local priorities. From 2013-14, the NHS Commissioning Board will commission NHS dentistry services.
	The number of people accessing NHS dentistry has increased by over 1.1 million nationally since May 2010.
	Information on numbers of patients registered with an NHS dentist is not available. Under the current dental contractual arrangements introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to registration data for earlier years.
	Information on number of patients seen by an NHS dentist in PCTs in West Yorkshire in the 24-month period ending 30 September 2012 (including orthodontic patients) is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Primary care trust Number of patients seen 
			 Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 297,940 
		
	
	
		
			 Calderdale PCT 129,514 
			 Kirklees PCT 263,514 
			 Leeds PCT 426,274 
			 Wakefield District PCT 218,893 
			 Sum of specified PCTs 1,336,135 
			 Notes: 1. The ‘patients seen’ measure shows the number of patients who received NHS dental care in the previous 24 months, an equivalent measure covering the 12-month period is not available. 2. Information is only available by PCT and strategic health authority area. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care. Table Al of Annex 2 of the ‘NHS Dental Statistics for England 2012-13, First Quarterly report’.

Fertility

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether tertiary infertility services will be commissioned by clinical commissioning groups from April 2013; and what guidance those groups will be given to (a) help them commission such services and (b) ensure that patients receive access to a range of infertility services.

Anna Soubry: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are set to take on responsibility for commissioning infertility services from April 2013, with the NHS Commissioning Board providing oversight and support. This will include the provision of supportive commissioning resources for CCGs.
	We will continue to expect that those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services are fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence fertility guidelines.

Glaucoma

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to make iStent surgery available to patients with glaucoma.

Daniel Poulter: It is for local national health service commissioners to make funding decisions on the use of specific interventions such as iStent, based on an assessment of the available evidence and patients’ individual clinical circumstances.

Health Professions: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there were for (a) doctors and (b) nurses specialising in the treatment of cancer at hospitals providing cancer treatment services in the London strategic health authority area in March (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 (A) in total and (B) by NHS trust; and if he will make a statement .

Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. A table showing vacancy rates and numbers for consultants in the six main cancer specialties in the London strategic health authority area as at 31 March 2010 has been placed in the Library.
	The national health service and GP vacancy collections and publications have been suspended since 2011 pending the outcome of the Department of Health-led Fundamental Review of Data Returns.

Health Professions: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there were for (a) doctors and (b) nurses specialising in emergency medicine (i) in total and (ii) by NHS trust within the London strategic health authority area in (A) April 2010 and (B) April 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows vacancy rates and numbers for consultants in the accident and emergency speciality in the London strategic health authority (SHA) area as at 31 March 2010.
	The national health service and GP vacancy collections and publications have been suspended since 2011 pending the outcome of the Department of Health-led Fundamental Review of Data Returns.
	
		
			 Total and three month vacancy rates and numbers for all consultants working within the accident and emergency specialty in London strategic health authority 
			 0  Accident and emergency 
			   Vacancy rate (%) Vacancy number 3-month vacancy rate (%) 3-month vacancy number Staff in post (full-time equivalents) Staff in post (headcount) 
			 England  9.1 91 3.3 31 906 938 
			         
			 London Q36 8.1 14 2.5 4 158 163 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust RF4 16.7 2 16.7 2 10 10 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust RVL * 2 * 2 7 8 
			 Barnet Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5A9 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust RRP — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust RNJ 7.9 1 0 0 12 12 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Camden and Islington Foundation Trust TAF — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Central And North West London NHS Foundation Trust RV3 — 0 — 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQM * 0 * 0 6 6 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust RC3 * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 East London NHS Foundation Trust RWK — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust RVR * 0 * 0 7 7 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust RP4 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust RJ1 0 0 0 0 11 11 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust RAS * 1 * 0 4 4 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RQX * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust RYJ 20.2 4 0 0 16 16 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RJZ * 0 * 0 7 8 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust RAX * 0 * 0 2 3 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust RJ2 * 0 * 0 3 3 
			 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust RJ6 * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust RP6 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust RNH * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 North East London NHS Foundation Trust RAT — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAP * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV8 * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust RPG — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust RT3 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RAL * 0 * 0 5 5 
			 The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust RPY — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust RAN — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust RV5 — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 South London Healthcare NHS Trust RYQ 0 0 0 0 10 10 
		
	
	
		
			 South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust RQY — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust RJ7 * 0 * 0 7 7 
			 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust RNK — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust RRV * 0 * 0 7 8 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust RKL — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RFW * 1 * 0 4 4 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC — 0 — 0 0 0 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust RGC * 1 * 0 6 6 
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust RKE * 2 * 0 4 5 
			 Notes: 1. SHA figures are based on trusts and do not necessarily reflect the geographical provision of health care. 2. A vacancy is defined as one which employers are actively trying to fill as at 31 March. 3. Total vacancy rates are total vacancies expressed as a percentage of total vacancies plus staff in post from the previous September medical and dental workforce census (full-time equivalent). 4. Three month vacancies are vacancies as at 31 March 2010 which trusts are actively trying to fill which had lasted for three months or more (full-time equivalents). 5. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post from the previous September medical and dental workforce census (full-time equivalent). 6. * = figures where staff in post and number of vacancies are less than 10. 7. — = figures where staff in post and vacancies are both nil. 8. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number. 9. Percentages are calculated on unrounded figures and are then rounded to one decimal place. 10. Data Quality The NHS Information Centre for health and social care seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre Vacancies Survey March 2010.

Health Services: Suffolk

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial deficit was of each (a) primary care trust and (b) NHS hospital trust in Suffolk in each of the last three years.

Daniel Poulter: All primary care trusts and national health service hospital trusts in Suffolk reported a surplus in their annual accounts from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

HIV Infection

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to raise awareness of HIV testing.

Anna Soubry: The Department funds the Terrence Higgins Trust and partners to deliver a three year programme for the HIV Prevention England, which targets gay and bisexual men and African communities, the groups most affected by HIV in the United Kingdom. HIV Prevention England includes information and awareness interventions, promotion of HIV testing and work to inform the evidence-base on effective HIV prevention. The Department also supported the first National HIV Testing Week run by HIV Prevention England which took place between the 23 to 30 November.
	HIV Prevention England is additional to work on HIV prevention and health promotion, including testing, commissioned and funded by the national health service and others locally.

Hospitals: Uniforms

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that hospital uniforms are not worn outside hospitals.

Daniel Poulter: It is for individual national health service trusts to determine their own policies on the wearing and laundering of uniforms in and around the workplace and in March 2010, the Department published refreshed guidance to help them do so: ‘Uniforms and workwear: Guidance on uniform and workwear policies for NHS employers’. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.
	One of the main conclusions of the working group that developed the guidance was that there was no conclusive evidence that uniforms or other work clothes pose a significant hazard in terms of spreading infection. The group did though recognise that the public believe there is a risk and do not like seeing hospital staff in uniform away from the workplace.
	A trust's chief executive has the responsibility for ensuring that hospital staff have enough suitable clothing and equipment to carry out their work effectively and to make any other supporting arrangements that may be necessary.
	As well as an evidence base, the Uniforms and Workwear guidance identified examples of good (and poor) practice that were based on common sense rather than scientific evidence. Changing into and out of uniforms at work is included as a good practice example in the guidance.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the provision of IVF treatment will be monitored by the NHS scorecard scheme.

Anna Soubry: The publication of an Innovation Scorecard is a commitment in the NHS chief executive’s report “Innovation Health and Wealth”. It aims to drive national health service compliance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals, which include medicines and medical technologies, by publishing levels of compliance at a local level. The Innovation Scorecard will help the NHS identify gaps in compliance which can then be justified, challenged or acted upon. The Innovation Scorecard is predicated on NICE technology appraisals, as there are clinical guidelines from NICE on the use of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) but no technology appraisals relating to IVF, the first Innovation Scorecard will not include IVF.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve the treatment given to patients suffering from Crohn's disease.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline for the treatment of Crohn's disease in October 2012. NICE has also been asked to develop a quality standard on Crohn's disease as part of the library of quality standards announced in March 2012. Through the NHS Outcomes Framework we will be holding the national health service to account for improving the quality of life of people with longer term conditions; including Crohn's disease.

NHS: Procurement

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the role of the Competition Commission is in relation to the tendering of providers of NHS services in England and Wales.

Daniel Poulter: The Competition Commission has no role in relation to tendering of NHS services.

NHS: Procurement

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the statutory minimum level of consultation required with service users is when proposing to transfer the provider of non-emergency ambulance services in an NHS trust as a result of a tendering process.

Daniel Poulter: The Department published statutory guidance in October 2008—‘Real Involvement’. The guidance provides advice to national health service organisations about their obligations under section 242 of the NHS Act 2006. This duty requires NHS organisations to make arrangements to involve patients and public in the planning and development of services and decisions affecting the operation of services. NHS bodies may discharge their obligations by informing, involving or consulting NHS service users, depending on the nature and extent of the proposed changes and its impact on service users.

Nurses: Incontinence

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist nurses in Harrow Primary Care Trust were employed to help people with continence problems in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The numbers of specialist nurses employed to "help people with continence problems is not collected centrally.
	The responsibility for specific decisions on staffing numbers and skill mix rests with the local national health service. We have given local NHS organisations; the freedom to decide how best to use their resources, in consultation with local stakeholders, as they know the health needs of their local communities best.

Preventive Medicine

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his Department's annual budget is allocated to preventative and early intervention measures.

Daniel Poulter: Funding for NHS services is currently allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs). Once allocated it is for PCTs to commission the services they need to meet the health care needs of their local populations, taking account of national and local priorities.
	In February we estimated that in 2012-13 around £5.2 billion will be spent on the future responsibilities of the public health system, and £2.2 billion will be for services that will in future be the responsibility of local authorities.
	From 2013-14 the Department will allocate ring-fenced public health grants, targeted for health inequalities, to upper-tier and unitary local authorities for improving the health and wellbeing of local populations; this is expected to include preventative and early intervention measures.
	The estimated spending in the local authority sector has been revised and will be published alongside the details of the grants to those authorities.

Smoking: Young People

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of 15-year-olds were regular smokers in 1999; and if he will estimate the proportion that remained regular smokers in the latest period for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The Survey of Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People showed that 23% of children aged 15 in England were regular smokers in 1999. It is possible to gain some insight into the proportion that have remained smokers using information from the 2010 General Lifestyles Survey, by looking at the current smoking status of those who said they started smoking regularly when they were 15 or younger. As the sample contains an insufficient number of 26-year-olds (who would have been 15 in 1999), it is necessary to use a broader age range. Of those 24 to 28-year-olds in England who said they started smoking regularly when they were 15 or younger, 71% said that they currently smoked cigarettes.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the likely effect on the use of preventative care services if the cap on care costs was set above £50,000.

Norman Lamb: As stated in the Progress report on funding reform, a cap on care costs may encourage people to start spending on their care when they need it, since they do not fear having to use all of their assets for care. Similarly, if people are willing to start spending earlier, they are more likely to use preventive services. Better information and advice, resulting from more people coming into contact with their local authority, would also make people more aware of their options and the benefits of preventing a care and support need from worsening.
	A copy of the progress report on funding reform is in the Library.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from organisations and individuals on capping the long-term costs of care.

Norman Lamb: Following the publication of the Dilnot Commission's recommendations, the Government engaged with a wide range of people, including service users, their families and carers, local authorities, charities, providers of care services and the financial services sector to get views on the Commission's proposals.
	We set out in the progress report on funding reform in July 2012 that the Government agrees that the principles of the Dilnot Commission's model—financial protection through capped costs and an extended means-test—would be the right basis for any new funding model. It is our intention to base a new funding model on them if a way to pay for it can be found.
	Since then, we have continued to engage with partners from the care sector, financial services and local authorities and others on the detail underpinning the principles of the capped cost model before making a decision in the spending review.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health at what level the cost of care to individuals will be capped; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: We set out in the progress report on funding reform in July 2012 that the Government agrees that the principles of the Dilnot Commission's model—financial protection through capped costs and an extended means-test—would be the right basis for any new funding model. It is our intention to base a new funding model on them if a way to pay for it can be found.

Sodium Valproate

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information and advice his Department has given to women of child-bearing age on the recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence concerning sodium valproate;
	(2)  what information is given to women of child-bearing age when prescribed the Epilim form of sodium valproate on the potential effects of that drug on mental health.

Daniel Poulter: Although there is no substitute for a full and comprehensive discussion with the health care team, we have supplemented this with guidance available on the NHS Choices website, which reflects the recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
	NHS Choices' Pregnancy Planner provides information on the issues women with long-term or chronic conditions may need to consider before and during pregnancy. This includes information on drug treatment to control epileptic seizures, which can be found at the following link:
	www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/epilepsy-pregnant.aspx
	In addition, more detailed information on the use of sodium valproate and considerations in family planning and pregnancy is also available on NHS Choices within its medicine guides pages, which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/medicineover view.aspx?condition=epilepsy&medicine=sodium+ valproate&preparation=sodium+valproate+100mg+tablets
	The current product information for sodium valproate (Epilim) products contains detailed advice in relation to its use during pregnancy. The product information for prescribers and the patient information leaflet, which accompanies the medicine, contain clear information about the potential side effects when prescribed to women of child bearing potential. Product information for health care professionals clearly states that Epilim should not be prescribed to women of child-bearing potential unless clearly necessary.
	The patient information leaflet for Epilim encourages women to discuss with their doctor the possible problems associated with Epilim when it is taken in pregnancy. Women of child bearing potential are advised to use an effective method of contraception and talk to their doctor before planning pregnancy.
	The patient information for Epilim also advises that women taking Epilim during pregnancy have a higher risk of having a child with an abnormality compared with other women. Women are also advised that their babies may develop less quickly than normal or have autistic disorders and that these children may require additional educational support.

Streptococcus

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has carried out to establish why the updated Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guidelines on prevention of group B streptococcus (GBS) have not resulted in reduced incidence of GBS infection in newborn babies.

Daniel Poulter: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published their updated guidelines on prevention of group B streptococcus (GBS) on incidence of GBS infection in neonates in July 2012. The updated guideline took into account new evidence on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease. It is important that services undertake local clinical audits to ensure the effective use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis recommended by the guideline.
	This year The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published two clinical audit tools which include clinical audit standards, a data collection form and an action plan template for use by services that care for women in labour or for babies at risk of, or being treated for, early on-set neonatal infection.

Tobacco

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will request (a) his Department's Chief Scientific Adviser and (b) the Government's Chief Scientific Advisers' Committee to conduct an assessment of the published scientific evidence concerning the health risks associated with the use of Swedish snus and other forms of smokeless tobacco;
	(2)  with reference to paragraph 5.11 of his Department's Tobacco Control Plan for England, Healthy Lives, Healthy People, if he will cite the scientific evidence used to assess the health risks associated with the use of smokeless tobacco.

Daniel Poulter: Directive 2001/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products prohibits the placing on the market of tobacco for oral use, including snus.
	In February 2008, the European Commission's independent Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published a report titled “Health Effects of Smokeless Tobacco Products” that reviewed the evidence on the safety of smokeless tobacco products. SCENIHR concluded that smokeless tobacco products are addictive and their use is hazardous to health.
	The SCENIHR is one of three independent non-food Scientific Committees that provide the European Commission with scientific advice to support policy development relating to consumer safety, public health and the environment.
	The Government is satisfied that SCENIHR's report is comprehensive, and has no plans to undertake any further specific reviews into the safety of snus.
	A copy of SCENIHR's report has been placed in the Library.

Tobacco: Australia

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Australia on the implementation of standardised packaging for tobacco in that country.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has received many thousands of responses to the “Consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products” from a range of interested parties. The Department is in the process of collating and analysing these responses. We will give full and proper consideration to all of the responses received, as well as to the evidence, and other relevant information, before making any decisions on future policy for tobacco packaging.
	No current health minister has met with any Australian health minister to specifically discuss standardised packaging of tobacco products. However, I met with Senator the hon. Kim Carr, the Australian Minister for Human Services on 6 December 2012, where he discussed experiences in Australia.
	Contact is also maintained at official level with the Australian Department of Health and Ageing regarding tobacco control.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Healthcare

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the oral evidence of the Permanent Secretary of his Department to the Public Accounts Committee of 19 November 2012, HC 744-i, Q161 and Q162, what proportion of health care professionals employed by Atos Healthcare for the purposes of carrying out the work capability assessment were (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) physiotherapists in (i) the UK and (ii) each region in (A) 2010, (B) 2011, (C) 2012 to date and (D) each month since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: Data on the number of staff employed by Atos Healthcare to work specifically on the work capability assessment (WCA) is not available. Atos Healthcare headcount is recorded nationally against the DWP Medical Services Contract which extends beyond delivery of the WCA.

Carers

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department will provide for carers when making applications for personal independence payments.

Esther McVey: Personal independence payment has been designed to be easy for disabled people to claim. However, if the disabled person requires support in making a claim, then the process will allow the carer to act as the disabled persons “voice” during the claimant journey. Where the claimant is so disabled that they are unable to act for themselves, the Department can appoint a person to act on that claimant’s behalf.
	Where a claimant is required to attend an assessment, provision has been made for allowing a third party, which can include carers, to accompany the disabled person whether it is held in an assessment centre or in their own home.
	A person can be awarded carer's allowance if the person being cared for is in receipt of the daily living component of personal independence payment at either rate, as long as they satisfy the other qualifying criteria.

Carer's Allowance: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of carer's allowance in Warrington North constituency.

Esther McVey: Statistics on how many people are in receipt of carer's allowance in Warrington North constituency can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Construction: Safety

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to reduce serious accidents and fatalities in the construction industry and to promote safe practices.

Mark Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive has a dedicated division for regulating the construction industry. It engages with the industry through a plan of work that supports industry in complying with legal requirements, encourages those who are complying with the law and takes a robust enforcement line with those who are not.
	The plan of work is a mix of inspection, investigation, enforcement and other activities. Inspections are targeted at high-risk work and where health and safety standards are poor, such as refurbishment work, asbestos removal and smaller sites. This is supported by a range of other work including interventions with trade bodies, clients and others in the supply chain to promote good practice; the provision of guidance through the HSE website and its publications; and support for the Working Well Together campaign which delivers key health and safety messages to construction workers.

Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent staff were employed on consultancy contracts in his Department on the latest date for which figures are available; how many such staff were employed on the same date 12 months ago; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: DWP (core Department and its agencies) does not employ consultants on a full-time staff equivalent basis.
	Consultancy services are delivered on a project basis, usually for a fixed fee following delivery of defined outcomes or deliverables. The consultancy supplier is responsible for providing appropriate resource.

Disability Living Allowance

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disability living allowance claimants have carers claiming carer's allowance.

Esther McVey: The available information is published in a response to a Freedom of Information request. This can be found on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/foi-2270-2012.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which recipients of employment and support allowance will be exempted from referral to mandatory community benefit work placements under the Mandatory Work Activity scheme.

Mark Hoban: Employment and support allowance claimants are not referred to the Mandatory Work Activity Scheme—it is exclusively for jobseeker's allowance claimants.

Employment Schemes

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are undertaking mandatory work activity at (a) Google, (b) Amazon and (c) Starbucks.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not hold information on the number of MWA places undertaken with particular placement providers. However, the Department specifies that all placements under the mandatory work activity (MWA) scheme must be of benefit to the local community. Consequently, the vast majority of MWA placements will be outside the private sector.

Employment Schemes: Young People

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Croydon Central of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 85W, on youth unemployment: London, what funding model his Department has adopted for providers participating in the Day 1 Support for Young People Trailblazer.

Mark Hoban: The payment model used in the Day One Support for Young People trailblazer comprises three separate payments:
	(1) a start fee (30% of the contract value, paid when a claimant starts work placement)
	(2) a completion fee (30% of the contract value, paid when a claimant has been either in employment or on placement for 13 weeks)
	(3) a job outcome fee (40% of the contract value, paid when a claimant has been in work for 26 out of 30 weeks).
	More detail can be found in the Day One Support for Young People Trailblazer Specification at the following link:
	http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site-1000&lang=en&NoticeId=744579

Housing Benefit

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people his Department estimates will be affected (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area by planned changes to housing benefit eligibility for people under-occupying social housing.

Steve Webb: We estimate around 660,000 working age housing benefit claimants will be affected by the social housing under-occupation measure.
	We are not able to estimate the impact of this measure at a local authority area level, but regional impacts can be found in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit

Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative costs are of a (a) new claim and (b) change of circumstance within an existing claim for housing benefit.

Steve Webb: Claims for housing benefit are administered by local authorities. The Department does not hold details of the administrative costs of a housing benefit new claim or change of circumstances.

Housing Benefit: Wales

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of individuals in Wales who will lose housing benefit under the new under-occupancy rules for social housing by (a) county, (b) those in receipt of benefit, (c) those in full-time employment and (d) those in part-time employment from April 2013.

Steve Webb: Impacts of the under-occupancy measure at a regional level can be found in the impact assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	We estimate around 40,000 working age housing benefit claimants in Wales will be affected by the social housing under-occupation measure at the time of its introduction in 2013-14.
	The further breakdowns requested are not available.

Housing Benefit: Young People

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people under the age of 25 in St Helens South and Whiston constituency received (a) housing benefit and (b) local housing allowance in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: The information requested is available for data from June 2012 onwards on a new visualisation tool Stat-Xplore published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool

Hyperactivity

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as their primary medical condition received (a) employment and support allowance and (b) disability living allowance in (i) Vauxhall constituency and (ii) England and Wales since May 2010.

Mark Hoban: Information on how many people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as their primary medical condition received employment and support allowance is not available.
	The available information on the number of recipients of disability living allowance (DLA) with ADHD as main disabling condition by Area since May 2010 to February 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Area 
			  England Wales Vauxhall parliamentary constituency 
			 May 2010 34,530 2,560 30 
			 May 201 44,150 3,250 40 
			 February 2012 48,750 3,650 40 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures do not include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended for example if they are in hospital. 3. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to DLA. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. For example, a customer would not be awarded DLA on the basis of a diagnosis of ADHD; the decision is based upon the care/supervision and difficulty getting around as a result of the substance dependency and any associated physical or psychological complications. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes. 4. February 2012 data are the latest available data. Source: DWP Information Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Jobseeker's Allowance: Young People

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged between 18 and 24 were claiming jobseeker's allowance in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber in October (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on jobseeker's allowance by age and area are available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Motor Neurone Disease

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what procedures are to be put in place to ensure that sufferers from Motor Neurone Disease are not disadvantaged by the introduction of personal independence payments and universal credits;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the treatment of Motor Neurone Disease under the new system of personal independence payments and universal credits.

Esther McVey: The personal independence payment assessment will not consider which impairments an individual has—labelling them simply on this basis—but how this impacts on their everyday lives. It will consider an individual's personal circumstances and the support they need, rather than basing eligibility on any medical condition.
	During the initial data gather, claimants are not asked about their condition but only give basic personal details including their name, date of birth, national insurance number, nationality, full address including post code, daytime telephone number and bank or building society account details. If unable to make the call themselves someone else can make the call for them provided the claimant is present with the caller. They can also have a supporter present with them at the consultation who is able to contribute to the discussion. If necessary, someone can be appointed to act for the claimant on either a temporary or a permanent basis.
	Additionally, should the claimant be identified as being in a vulnerable situation, arrangements are in place that allow for a DWP Visiting Officer to assist the claimant in completing both the initial phone call and the ‘How your disability affects you’ form.
	To date there has been one representation received on the treatment of Motor Neurone Disease under the new system of personal independence payments.

National Employment Savings Trust Scheme

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on small pension pots of the ban on transfers from the National Employment Savings Trust.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions is continuing to work closely with the pensions industry and other interested parties, including NEST, to develop the automatic transfer proposals and to understand how they might be implemented.
	The assumption is that NEST would be able to participate in any system for automatic transfers that may be introduced, and this was the basis of the Government's analysis in the response to the small pots consultation. This would require the current transfer restrictions on NEST to be lifted.
	DWP has published a call for evidence on the impact on NEST of the transfer restrictions and the annual contribution limit. Details can be found on the DWP website at
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2012/nest-auto-enrolment.shtml
	The call for evidence ends on 28 January 2013.

Occupational Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people would be excluded from the new workplace pensions scheme if the income trigger for auto-enrolment were to rise from £8,105 to £9,440.

Steve Webb: We estimate that there are 11 million workers eligible for automatic enrolment into a workplace pension of whom 37% are women.
	Raising the value of the earnings threshold at which individuals become eligible for automatic enrolment, from £8,105 to £9,440 would exclude around 420,000 individuals, of whom 320,000 are women.
	Anyone who is not automatically enrolled because of an increase in the earnings threshold will retain the right to opt in. If they earn above the lower limit of the qualifying earnings band, which currently stands at £5,564, they will also get an employer contribution. Employers are required to provide information about these opt in rights to individuals.

Occupational Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the income tax threshold will be for auto-enrolment.

Steve Webb: The automatic enrolment earnings trigger determines who saves. The qualifying earnings band sets minimum contribution levels for money purchase schemes. These thresholds must be reviewed each year, and revised if appropriate, taking into account the prevailing rates of national insurance contributions, PAYE personal tax allowance, basic state pension, price and earnings inflation and any other factors that the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
	The Government’s response to the consultation on the 2013-14 review and revision of earning thresholds for automatic enrolment will be published today, and I will place a copy of it in the House Libraries. These papers will also be available on the Department’s website at:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations

Pension Credit: Merseyside

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Wirral South constituency and (b) Merseyside receive pension credit; and what the average weekly payment is.

Steve Webb: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			  Number in receipt of pension credit Average weekly payment (£) 
			 Wirral South constituency 2,850 53.04 
			 Wirral 17,240 57.11 
			 Notes: 1. Figures for the metropolitan county of Merseyside are not available figures provided are for Wirral local authority area and Wirral South constituency. 2. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data

Poverty

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) children and (b) elderly people live in poverty.

Esther McVey: The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty (all before housing costs have been taken into account).
	The number of children in poverty based on relative, absolute and combined low income and material deprivation measures for 2010/11 can be found in Tables 4.3tr, 4.4tr and 4.5tr (found on pages 104, 105 and 106 respectively) of the Households Below Average Income series published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php?page=contents
	The percentage of children in persistent poverty for 2005-08 can be found in Table A4 (found on page 78) of the Low Income Dynamics publication at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/low_income/low_income_dynamics_1991-2008.pdf
	Income matters but considering this in isolation fails to properly reflect the reality of child poverty in the UK today. We are very interested in developing better measurements of child poverty which include income but provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty and are seeking a wide range of views as part of a consultation on how best to measure child poverty.
	Estimates of pensioner poverty are also published in the Households Below Average Income series. The most commonly used measure of pensioner poverty relates to those people with income below 60% of contemporary median income, after housing costs. This is often referred to as relative poverty.
	The information is already published and can be found in Table 6.3tr (on page 208) of the Households Below Average Income series published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php?page=contents

Social Security Benefits

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will assess whether the methodology used in his Department's January 2012 study of Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants to estimate the number of non-UK nationals who claimed for some working age benefits could be used to identify the number of non-UK nationals who claim (a) working tax credit and (b) housing benefit; and if he will undertake such an analysis.

Mark Hoban: Working tax credits are the responsibility of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
	The data to undertake the analysis suggested for housing benefit are not currently available in a suitable format and could be produced only with a new methodology and at disproportionate cost. We have no plans to undertake this work.
	Looking forward, the Government will be recording nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim to universal credit.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on social security benefit: Greater London, what his most recent estimate is of the number of households in each borough of London whose weekly income will be reduced by (a) less than £20, (b) between £20 and £39.99, (c) between £40 and £59.99, (d) between £60 and £79.99, (e) between £80 and £99.99 and (f) over £100 through the operation of the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows for how many households in each borough of London the weekly reduction in benefit will be (a) less than £20, (b) between £20 and £39.99, (c) between £40 and £59.99, (d) between £60 and £79.99, (e) between £80 and £99.99 and (f) over £100.
	
		
			 Number 
			 Local authority Less than £20 Between £20 to £39.99 Between £40 to £59.99 Between £60 to £79.99 Between £80 to £99.99 Over £100 Total 
			 Barking and Dagenham 100 200 100 * * 300 800 
			 Barnet 100 200 * * * 400 900 
			 Bexley * * * * * * 300 
			 Brent 300 400 100 200 300 1,100 2,500 
			 Bromley * * * * * * 300 
			 Camden 200 200 * * * 200 800 
			 City of London * * * * * * * 
			 Croydon 100 100 200 * * 300 900 
			 Ealing 300 200 200 200 100 700 1,700 
			 Enfield 200 300 200 100 200 900 1,900 
			 Greenwich 100 100 * * * 100 500 
			 Hackney 300 100 200 * * 400 ¦ 1,200 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 100 * * * * 300 700 
			 Haringey 100 100 200 * * 500 1,100 
			 Harrow * * * * * 300 700 
			 Havering * * * * * * 300 
			 Hillingdon 100 * * 100 * 300 700 
			 Hounslow 100 * * * * 200 600 
			 Islington 200 200 * * * 300 800 
			 Kensington and Chelsea * 200 * * * 300 700 
		
	
	
		
			 Kingston upon Thames * * * * * * 200 
			 Lambeth 100 * 100 * * 200 700 
			 Lewisham 100 100 100 * * 300 700 
			 Merton * * * * * * 300 
			 Newham 300 200 200 200 100 600 1,600 
			 Redbridge 100 200 * 100 * 400 1,000 
			 Richmond upon Thames * * * * * * 100 
			 Southwark * * * * * 100 500 
			 Sutton * * * * * * 200 
			 Tower Hamlets 200 200 200 100 * 500 1,300 
			 Waltham Forest 100 100 * 100 * 300 800 
			 Wandsworth 100 100 100 * * 400 900 
			 Westminster 200 500 * * 200 800 1,700 
			 Total 4,300 4,700 3,000 2,600 2,300 10,800 27,600 
			 Note: Rounded to the nearest 100. Areas with fewer than 100 households affected are denoted by "*", as additional disclosure control has been applied to these areas. For this reason, figures may not round to the total number of households affected in London. 
		
	
	The figures presented above are consistent with the recent Impact Assessment published on 16 July 2012. In making these estimates we assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work Programme to move as many into work as possible. Therefore, please note that these figures are subject to change prior to the policy being implemented in April 2013.
	The recent disregarding of housing costs for those in supported exempt accommodation announced in the autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882, can not be allocated geographically therefore this has not been removed from the estimates presented here. This will reduce the figures in local authorities based on where these households are.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he expects to bring forward primary legislation to change the method of benefit uprating; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), announced in his autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, that the main rates of the majority of working age benefits and tax credits would increase by 1% in 2013-14. This will be achieved under existing legislation. A Bill to extend this for a further two years will be introduced shortly.

Unemployment

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has made an assessment of the number of people who are currently underemployed in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Mark Hoban: The number of people in the specified areas who want to work more hours either in their current job, or by taking a new or additional job, are shown in the table. This group represents a minority of the work force, with nine out of 10 people saying they do not want additional hours.
	The figures include people who say they would accept longer hours in their current job if the opportunity arose, in addition to those who are actively seeking extra hours. They also include people already working full-time (up to 47 hours per week) who still express a preference for more hours.
	The UK has a flexible labour market in which six to seven million people start a new job or change jobs every year and the range of new jobs coming up is very wide. This dynamism and diversity ensures most people can find a job that suits their particular needs. A job that does not initially provide as many hours as a person wants can provide valuable skills and experience and be a stepping stone to more hours when their employer is able to offer them, or by using the experience gained to move to a different job.
	
		
			 Number in employment willing to work more hours (1) 
			  Number (Thousand) 
			 England 2,246 
			 West Midlands 227 
			 Coventry 13 
			 (1) Workers are defined as underemployed if willing to work more hours, either by working in an additional job, working more hours in their current job, or switching to a replacement job. They must also be available to start working longer hours within two weeks, and their current weekly hours must be below 40 hours if they are aged between 16 and 18 and below 48 hours if they are aged over 18. Notes: 1. Estimates are based on small sample sizes and should be treated with caution. 2. Estimates have been rounded to the nearest thousand. Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey dataset, October 2010 to September 2011.

Unemployment Benefits

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been in receipt of out-of-work benefits for (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) three years in (i) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber and (iii) England.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the number of people in receipt of out of work benefit in Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency, Yorkshire and the Humber and England by duration:
	
		
			 Area All Up to 1 year 1 to 2 years 2 to 3 years 
			 England 2,550,210 1,799,170 500,540 250,500 
			 Jobseekers Allowance 1,332,520 1,071,420 213,080 48,020 
			 Incapacity Benefits 823,290 531,760 168,960 122,570 
			 Lone Parents 302,400 139,460 96,390 66,550 
			 Carers 52,400 24,960 16,480 10,960 
			 Other Income Related Benefits 39,580 31,570 5,620 2,390 
			      
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 300,050 214,330 57,970 27,750 
			 Jobseekers Allowance 166,300 132,410 27,600 6,290 
			 Incapacity Benefits 89,990 59,240 17,720 13,030 
			 Lone Parents 32,590 15,610 10,140 6,840 
			 Carers 6,350 3,090 1,880 1,380 
			 Other Income Related Benefits 4,830 4,000 620 210 
			      
			 Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency 2,230 1,640 400 190 
			 Jobseekers Allowance 1,340 1,090 210 40 
			 Incapacity Benefits 660 420 120 120 
			 Lone Parents 180 90 60 30 
			 Carers 40 20 10 10 
			 Other Income Related Benefits 20 20 — — 
			 Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and totals may not sum due to rounding. “—” Denotes nil or negligible. 2. Statistical Group is a hierarchical variable. A person who fits into more than one category will only appear in the top-most. 3. Out of work benefits which are included in this analysis are: Jobseekers Allowance Employment and Support Allowance Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance Income Support 4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment and support allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008. 5. Durations shown are the longest claim duration of the benefits of interest. 6. The duration of claim reflects the longest out-of-work benefit claim for each person: For the Jobseekers statistical group this will be the length of the JSA claim. For the lone parent, carer, and others on income related benefit statistical groups this will be the length of the IS claim. For the ESA and incapacity benefits claim this will be the length of the IB/SDA or ESA claim if the person is only claiming that benefit, or the oldest of either the IB/SDA/ESA and IS claim if the person is claiming a combination of these benefits. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Universal Credit

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to paragraph 2.66 of the Autumn Statement 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of households that will be exempt from the household benefit cap as a result of the decision to disregard housing payments for those in supported exempt accommodation for the purpose of the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: Figures approved by the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that this change will reduce the total amount of households affected by the cap by around 2,000 to 54,000 and reduce the savings by around £10 million to £265 million. While disregarding housing costs for these households does not exempt them per se, there will be very few who remain affected by the cap.
	This estimate is on a consistent basis to the existing impact assessment published 16 July 2012:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf

Wellingborough

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will relocate his Department to Wellingborough.

Mark Hoban: The Department already undertakes some activities in Wellingborough at the Jobcentre Plus in West Villa Road. However, it would be impractical to relocate the rest of the Department to Wellingborough.

Work Programme

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department gives to Work programme placement providers which wish to refer a customer for sanctions.

Mark Hoban: The 'Work Programme Provider Guidance' Chapter 6 'Raising a Compliance Doubt' is available to providers on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/supplying-dwp/what-we-buy/welfare-to-work-services/provider-guidance/work-programme-provider.shtml
	Providers follow this guidance when a Work programme participant fails to comply with a mandated activity, referring cases where appropriate to Jobcentre Plus where a decision maker will consider whether imposing a sanction is appropriate.

Work Programme

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 56W, on the Work programme, how many former incapacity benefit claimants have participated in the Work programme in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each local authority.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many former incapacity benefit claimants have participated in the Work programme in (a) Great Britain, (b) Scotland and (c) each local authority can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 55W, on the Work programme, whether he requires all Work programme providers to develop plans for improving performance.

Mark Hoban: All Work programme providers have been required to develop and put in place performance development plans for each of their Work programme contracts.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average length of an apprenticeship has been in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) nationally in each of the last 10 years.

Matthew Hancock: holding answer 13 December 2012
	Table 1 shows the adjusted average length of an Apprenticeship framework in Liverpool Walton constituency, Liverpool local education authority and England for 2009/10 to 2011/12 (provisional). Final data are shown for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 academic years and provisional data are shown for the 2011/12 academic year.
	Data prior to 2009/10 on the adjusted measure basis is not available, 2011/12 is the latest year for which data are available.
	Care should be taken when interpreting Apprenticeship durations as they are dependent on the mix of Apprenticeship levels and frameworks, and the prior attainment of learners (some will already have completed parts of the Apprenticeship). The adjusted measure is intended to exclude those Apprentices with some prior attainment.
	
		
			 Table 1: Average length of stay by geography, 2009/10 to 2011/12 (provisional) 
			 Months 
			  2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 (provisional) 
			 Liverpool Walton parliamentary constituency 15 12 11 
			 Liverpool local education authority 15 12 11 
			 England total 15 13 12 
			 Notes: 1. Provisional data for 2011/12 should not be directly compared with data for earlier years. 2. Average length of stay (adjusted) is based on the actual end date of the Apprenticeship as recorded in the ILR; it only includes those achievements within the academic year that were fully funded. Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Provisional data for the 2011/12 academic year provide an early view of performance and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. They should not be directly compared with final year data from previous years. Figures for 2011/12 will be finalised in January 2013.
	Information on Apprenticeship achievements by duration is published within the 'Other Statistics' section of the SFR website:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_other_statistics/
	From August 2012 Ministers have decided that an Apprenticeship must last at least 12 months for under 19s, and for adults unless prior learning is recorded and funding reduced accordingly, in order to ensure that every Apprenticeship involves sufficient new learning and opportunity to embed new skills.

Apprentices

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many new apprenticeship places have been made available in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England in the last year.

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography are published in Supplementary Tables to a quarterly Statistical First Release (SFR):
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/87E140BF-810D-4C48-A5C1-9C8B84B46117/0/October2012_Apprenticeship_starts.xls
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/
	The latest SFR containing headline apprenticeship starts figures was published on 11 October 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	Data are not available on the number of starts that were new apprenticeship places.

Basic Skills

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's core adult skills budget (a) is for 2012-13 and (b) will be for the next three financial years.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Statement 2012-15, published on 6 December 2012, sets out the Adult Skills Budget for 2012-13 and 2013-14 financial years (FY), and the indicative budget for 2014-15 FY. Details can be found in the finance table of the document, on page 15, at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/s/12-p172-skills-funding-statement-2012-2015.pdf
	The Department has budgets set up until the end of the current spending review period (2014-15). The autumn statement on 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-82, confirmed the envelope for total managed expenditure in 2015-16, and announced that detailed plans for spending in 2015-16, including the breakdown by Department, will be set out in the first half of next year.

Business: Government Assistance

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on support for small businesses.

Michael Fallon: Ministers and officials regularly engage with small businesses and their representative groups to discuss a range of issues affecting small businesses, including business support. On 24 October, I chaired the Small Business Economic Forum, which brings together representatives of business and finance. This provided an opportunity to discuss a number of issues including equity aversion among small businesses, the new Business Bank, finance issues for employee owned businesses, Global Entrepreneurship Week, prompt payment, and the British Bankers' Association's Business Finance Taskforce. I also had one of my quarterly meetings with the Federation of Small Businesses on 1 November, where we discussed Interest Rate Swaps and the autumn statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882.
	The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and I also meet regularly with our Entrepreneurs' Forum, a group of individual entrepreneurs. The Forum last met on 2 October, to discuss the development of the Business Bank, branding of business support, and support to small businesses on exporting.

Business: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Liverpool have received funding from (a) the Growth Accelerator, (b) Business In You, (c) the Business Growth Fund, (d) UK Trade and Investment Export for Growth, (e) export finance, (f) equity, (g) mezzanine support and (h) the North West Fund in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what information his Department holds on the total number of businesses in Liverpool.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 13 December 2012
	The information is as follows:
	(a) Growth Accelerator is a new £200 million, three year programme to help up to 26,000 of England's fastest growing businesses achieve their ambition and potential to achieve rapid and sustainable growth. It will help small businesses with potential overcome barriers to growth and make a significant contribution to private sector-led recovery. There are 55 companies from the Liverpool city Local Enterprise Partnership area on the Growth Accelerator programme.
	(b) Business in You is not a funding programme. It is a partnership between private enterprise and Government to highlight support for start-ups and growing businesses.
	(c) The Business Growth Fund is an independent privately run investment fund, without control or stake from Government, and Government does not collect details of its investments.
	(d) Exporting for Growth sets out the range of support companies can receive from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), to help them export, and in Liverpool, over the year 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012, 331 companies received export support.
	(e) UK Export Finance does not provide businesses with funding. It issues trade credit insurance to exporters and guarantees to banks that make loans to buyers to finance the purchase of supplies from UK companies. In 2011-12, UK Export Finance has not provided support, by way of credit insurance and guarantees, in respect of businesses in Liverpool.
	(f) BIS invests directly in a range of equity funds that make investments into SMEs, including the Enterprise Capital Fund programme. One company in Liverpool has received investment from equity funds directly supported by BIS in the last 12 months.
	As well as funds directly supported by BIS, there are a range of other sources of equity investment for companies in Liverpool on which the Department does not hold data. This includes the £170 million North West Fund, which is financed by European Structural Funds and provides equity finance ranging from £50,000 to £2 million to small companies in the North West. The Government also supports equity investment in SMEs through a range of tax incentives for investors, including the new Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
	( g ) Through the Regional Growth Fund, Government supports Santander's breakthrough programme which provides businesses with support, training and access to mezzanine finance. As yet, no mezzanine finance has been provided to businesses based in the Liverpool area within this programme.
	(h) There were 22 companies supported from December 2010 to September 2012 in Liverpool by the North West Fund. In March 2012, there were 9,700 businesses registered for either VAT and/or PAYE in the Liverpool local authority area. These figures exclude the very smallest non employing businesses, for which data is not available.

Business: Loans

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, columns 246-47W, on business: loans, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of small and medium-sized businesses in each region who have had (a) an overdraft and (b) a business loan application rejected by a bank in each quarter of each year since March 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Pursuant to my previous response of 15 October 2012, Official Report, columns 246-47W, on business loans, the Government does not collect statistics on the proportion of applicants for loans and overdrafts who are successful, but an estimate is available from the independently conducted SME Finance Monitor published by BDRC. This survey lists the geographical region of each respondent, and BDRC makes this publicly available at the UK Data Archive. Despite the large number of SMEs surveyed, (5,000 each quarter), the small proportion which apply for external finance from banks in any one quarter (around 2.5%) means that statistically robust estimates of success rate are not available on a quarterly basis.
	BDRC has published regional breakdowns based on their first full year of data in April 2012, which was published and is freely available on the SME Finance Monitor website at:
	www.sme-finance-monitor.co.uk
	and will publish its next annual report in the spring.
	That publicly available report, accessed on 12 December 2012 showed that the proportion of small and medium-sized businesses in each region who ended up with no facility after having applied for (a) an overdraft and (b) a business loan application were as follows:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Region (a) Of applicants for ‘overdrafts’ which ended up with no facility (b) Of applicants for ‘loans’ which ended up with no facility 
			 North East 13 46* 
			 Yorkshire and Humber *21 27 
			 North West 21 25 
			 West Midlands *17 *47 
			 East Midlands 21 40 
			 East Anglia **8 35 
			 South West 8 41 
		
	
	
		
			 London 16 34 
			 South East 18 30 
			 Scotland 11 22 
			 Wales *26 31 
			 Northern Ireland *28 14 
			 National average 17 33 
			 Note: An asterisk indicates that applicants in that region were statistically less likely to have ended the process with a facility, (and a double asterisk indicates they were more likely), once business demographics (such as size, age and risk rating) and the reason for application were taken into account. The report, however, stresses that this is unlikely to be caused by them being in the given region per se, and instead will be a reflection of other factors about the business, only some of which have been captured in the survey.

EU Law

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of new UK legislation has originated in the EU since 1997.

Michael Fallon: The OECD estimates that at least 50% of national regulations in EU member states have their origin in EU legislation. In order to increase transparency, in the forthcoming Statement of New Regulation (SNR5) the Government will, for the first time, be listing details of those new European Union (EU) measures which are being implemented in UK law in the next six months and have a direct effect on business.

Further Education: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the 2.8% increase in funding for further education colleges announced on 6 December 2012 is (a) capital and (b) revenue funding.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Statement 2012-2015, published on 6 December 2012, set out the funding available for investment in the further education and skills sector in 2013-14:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/s/12-p172-skills-funding-statement-2012-2015.pdf

Grants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department has allocated to each region of England for (a) its local economic partnership and (b) the Regional Growth Fund in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The 39 local enterprise partnerships have been offered the following funding. These figures are not available by region. The autumn statement announced that the Government will provide £10 million per year for capacity building within LEPs. Each LEP will be able to apply for up to £250,000 additional funding per year to develop and deliver strategic plans.
	
		
			 Local enterprise p artnership funding 2011/12 2012/13 
			 Start-up fund (challenge-based funding to help put their core operational capacity in place) £5 million — 
			 Capacity fund (for development and delivery of activities) £1 million(1) £3 million(2) 
			 Core funding (for long-term resource planning and strengthen support and autonomy of the business-led boards) — £125,000 per LEP(3) 
			 (1) Challenge funding. (2) Equal allocation for each LEP over a three-year period. (3) Jointly given by BIS and DCLG with up to £250,000 per LEP for the next two years on a matched fund basis. 
		
	
	The following table shows the regional distribution of RGF funds from the three bidding rounds. This funding is available from 2011-16 and is paid to bidders as they claim according to how the project or programme progresses. I will be issuing a written ministerial statement on the Regional Growth Fund in the new year and this will set out progress to date.
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Region Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 
			 North West 28 212 142 
			 West Midlands 107 126 184 
			 North East 62 100 170 
			 East Midlands 20 72 38 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 45 122 101 
			 South West 8 91 105 
			 South East 6 75 49 
			 East of England 0 10 31 
			 London 0 0 9 
			 National 175 90 224 
			 Total 451 898 1,053

Higher Education: Scotland

Alistair Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of all grants awarded by UK research councils was awarded to universities in Scotland in each year since 2007-08.

David Willetts: The following table gives a breakdown of the proportion of funding awarded to universities in Scotland in each year from 2007-08. Figures were not available for 2011-12.
	
		
			 Grant funding from Research Councils 
			  2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Total for all HEIs(1) in UK (£) 2,713,391 2,703,423 2,599,867 2,281,293 
			 Total for HEIs in Scotland (£) 356,289 356,640 356,794 304,958 
			      
			 Percentage of total funding to Scotland 13.13 13.19 13.72 13.37 
			 (1) Higher education institution

Postgraduate Education: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) doctoral, (b) taught masters and (c) research masters postgraduate degree course places there were in each subject area that were funded by (i) the Higher Education Funding Council of England and Wales, (b) the Research Councils and (iii) other organisations in the public sector in (A) 2010-11 and (B) 2011-12; what estimate he has made of the number of such places in (1) 2012-13 and (2) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: Information on the number of postgraduate taught (PGT) and postgraduate research (PGR) full-time equivalent students (FTEs) counted in the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) teaching and research funding methodologies for England are shown in Tables 1 and 2 as follows. The postgraduate taught figures are broken down into the following broad subject areas:
	(A) The clinical stages of medicine and dentistry courses and veterinary science.
	(B) Laboratory-based subjects (science, pre-clinical stages of medicine and dentistry, engineering and technology).
	(C) Subjects with a studio, laboratory or fieldwork element.
	(D) All other subjects.
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimate of number of postgraduate taught (PGT) FTEs (English institutions) 
			 Price group 2010-11 FTEs 2011-12 FTEs 
			 A 1,941.80 1,941.80 
			 B 11,055.20 11,079.50 
			 C 33,042.40 33,466.80 
			 D 34,868.10 35,029.70 
			 Total 80,907.60 81,517.80 
			 Sources: 2010-11 FTEs taken from HESES/HEIFES10 and the 2010-11 monitoring return 2011-12 FTEs taken from the October 2011-12 sector grant tables 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of postgraduate research (PGR) FTEs (English institutions) 
			 Subject area Eligible PGR FTEs in 2010-11 funding Eligible PGR FTEs in 2011-12 funding Eligible PGR FTEs in 2012-13 funding 
			 Sciences (including medicine) 23,080 24,614 23,972 
			 Social Sciences 9,101 9,976 9,619 
			 Arts and humanities 7,472 8,096 7,769 
			 Total England 39,654 42,686 41,360 
			 Source: Eligible PGR students in years 1 to 3 of full-time study (and part-time equivalent) taken from the 2009 and 2010 HEFCE Research Activity Surveys. Also Eligible PGR FTEs extracted from 2010-11 HESA Student Record. 
		
	
	Estimates for PGT FTE for 2012-13 provided by institutions in 2011 are known to be unreliable. Data will be available shortly from HEFCE on final PGT FTE outturn numbers for 2012-13. Data are not yet available to predict eligible PGT or PGR FTE for 2013-14.
	Research Councils
	Table 3 as follows shows headcount figures on the number of taught masters, other masters, PhD and other doctoral studies places that were funded in 2010/11 and 2011/12. Table 4 shows what is expected to be funded in 2012/13 and 2013/14. The figures are broken down by Research Council.
	
		
			 Table 3: Number of headcount postgraduate places funded by RCUK (UK institutions) 
			  Taught Masters Other Masters PhD Other doctoral studies 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2010-11 2011-12 2010-11 2011-12 2010-11 2011-12 
			 AHRC — — 607 486 729 719 — — 
			 BBSRC — — 110 110 555 525 — — 
			 EPSRC — — — — 2,944 2,450 — — 
			 ESRC — — 6 — 739 649 — — 
			 MRC — — 63 63 276 251 51 56 
			 NERC 285 — — — 325 332 — — 
			 STFC — — — — 225 225 — — 
			 Total 285 0 786 659 5,793 5,151 51 56 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Estimated numbers of headcount postgraduate places funded by RCUK (UK institutions) for the next 2 years 
			  Taught Masters Other Masters PhD Other doctoral studies 
			  2012-13 2013-14 2012-13 2013-14 2012-13 2013-14 2012-13 2013-14 
			 AHRC — — 355 339 692 689 — — 
			 BBSRC — — 0 0 405 420 — — 
			 EPSRC — — — — 2,300 2,200 — — 
			 ESRC — — 6 6 753 600 — — 
			 MRC — — 66 68 178 190 45 50 
			 NERC — — — — 325 325 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 STFC — — — — 225 225 — — 
			 Total: 0 0 427 413 4,878 4,649 45 50 
			 Notes: 1. The data does not take in to account any funds leveraged by HEIs to increase the total number of studentship places available. 2. 2011/12 data—This replaces previous estimates with the actual numbers. 3. If universities choose to support part-time students and fees-only students, and/or match Research Council funding with that from other sources, then more students will be able to be supported; PhD students may also be supported by larger Research Grants from some councils. 4. MRC data (i) The figures presented above are the number of new student places funded by the MRC which started in the specified year. (ii) The data presented for 'Other Masters' excludes any studentships where a Masters has been funded as part of doctoral study. MRC does not fund 'Taught Masters'. (iii) The data presented under 'other doctoral training' were clinically trained students funded as Clinical Research Training Fellows. (iv) All of the data presented above excludes studentships at MRC funded Centres and Units. Approximately 100 students a year start their PhD studentship in one of MRC's units or institutes. 5. AHRC data Figures may be subject to change depending on a number of factors. The majority of the students funded will be supported through the AHRC's Block Grant Partnership schemes. The figures provided are based on full-time students in receipt of fees & maintenance. 6. BBSRC data All Masters students are included in "Other Masters". Separate figures are not available for Taught and Research Masters. PhD studentship numbers for the last two years are estimates from data based on returns provided by awarded institutions. 7. EPSRC data EPSRC only supports Masters level training when it aligns with their broader strategy. For this reason, in 2009 they decided to focus most of their support in this area on activities which employ Masters-level training as a means of developing highly skilled doctoral-level researchers, rather than those which view the provision of Masters graduates as an end in itself. As a result, their current support for Masters level training is delivered via the Centres for Doctoral Training, Doctoral Training Accounts and some courses in Mathematical Sciences (e.g. Statistics). Not all of these routes provide students with a formal Masters qualification so it would be difficult to be definitive about numbers over a specific period. 8. ESRC data ESRC funds a mix of +3 (PhD), 1+3 (Masters + PhD) and other structured awards. The data provided indicates new student places per year, rather than the total student stock each year. All new funded studentships are located within their Doctoral Training Centre Network to allow individual institutions greater flexibility to determine the structure of training required by each candidate. This means ESRC is unable to predict the exact structure of allocations for future years.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether any proportion of the Regional Growth Fund monies announced in the Autumn Statement will be channelled through devolved Administrations.

Michael Fallon: £350 million announced for the Regional Growth Fund in the autumn statement includes £40 million for devolved Administrations through the Barnett Consequential.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn Statement of 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-2, by what means monies for the new regional growth fund will be delivered; and by what date he expects to announce the details of the delivery mechanism.

Michael Fallon: The Chancellor announced additional funding for the Regional Growth Fund in his autumn statement. I have asked officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to work quickly across Whitehall to agree the best means of delivering this funding based upon the success of previous rounds. I will put proposals to my ministerial colleagues and an announcement will be made as soon as possible thereafter.

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 November 2012, Official Report, column 779W, on Regional Growth Fund, how many (a) bids and (b) individual awards under Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund have not yet received a final agreed offer; and what the monetary value is of such bids and awards.

Michael Fallon: 126 bids from Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund were conditionally allocated funding subject to confirmatory due diligence. These bids translate to 173 individual awards as some bids have multiple counterparties. Of these, 31 awards worth £135 million have yet to agree a final offer. Officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills aim to get these offers agreed by the end of the year.

Science: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much expenditure on science and research he has announced since October 2010.

David Willetts: The Allocation of Science and Research 2011-15 was published in December 2010 and gives full details of the baseline expenditure for Science and Research for the financial year 2011-12 onwards:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/science/docs/a/10-1356-allocation-of-science-and-research-funding-2011-2015
	Since then, announcements have been made for additional capital expenditure in science and research totalling £1.52 billion. These investments will be made through the seven UK research councils, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the UK Space Agency.

Skilled Workers: Construction

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the construction skills certification scheme and the green card holding scheme;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy to increase the requirements for eligibility for a construction skills certification scheme green card to include a series of training modules in addition to the current Health and Safety Executive test; and if he will consider providing financial support to the construction industry to fund such additional requirements.

Michael Fallon: The Construction Skills Certification Scheme is an industry-led initiative. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made any recent assessment of the scheme and there is no statutory requirement to hold this or equivalent qualifications.
	While we welcome the positive contribution that the schemes makes, both to the industry and its clients, in promoting health and safety awareness and relevant competency standards, decisions on the scheme are a matter for the scheme's operators.

Student Wastage: Higher Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students left university before completing their degree in the last year for which figures are available.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes information on non-continuation rates of undergraduate students, including projected outcomes (completion rates), through the HESA Performance Indicators release. The latest available figures show that 78.7% of full-time students starting first degree courses at English higher education institutions in 2009/10 were expected to complete their course and gain a degree level qualification; of the remaining 21.3%, 3.1% were projected to gain another award, 5.1% were projected to transfer to another institution, 0.2% had unknown outcomes, and 12.8% were expected to neither gain an award or transfer.
	Figures for students starting courses in the 2010/11 academic year will become available from March 2013. Further information on HESA performance indicators can be found at:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2072/141/
	OECD statistics show that university completion rates in the UK compare well internationally. Latest estimates, provided in “Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators”, showed the UK to have completion rates well above the OECD average.

Sunday Trading

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received from trades unions on the level of pay to shop workers working on Sundays; if he will place in the Library a copy of any response given; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what research he has (a) evaluated and (b) commissioned since September 2010 on the social implications of relaxing Sunday trading restrictions; if he will assess the potential effect of easing or removing existing restrictions on Sunday trading on (i) parental involvement in children's education and (ii) parent-child contact time; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent estimate he has made of the number of shop workers in each region (a) of each sex and (b) in each age group who have exercised a right not to work on a Sunday;
	(4)  if he will take steps to ensure that employees understand their right to opt out of Sunday working; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Business and Enterprise, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 11 September 2012, Official Report, column 215W, regarding Sunday trading.
	Legislation protects shop workers from having to work on Sunday if they do not wish to do so. With the exception of those employed to work solely on Sundays, they have the right to refuse to work on Sundays and cannot be dismissed fordoing so. Even if they have agreed to work on Sundays, employees are free to change their minds subject to a three month notice period.
	There have not been any recent representations from trades unions on the level of pay to shop workers. Like other terms and conditions, however, levels of pay are a matter for negotiation and agreement between the parties concerned, subject to requirement to pay the minimum wage.
	There has been no assessment of the number of workers who have exercised a right to work on Sunday.
	Since the provisions in the Sunday Trading Act 1994, now consolidated into the Employment Rights Act 1996, have been in force, information on an employee's right to opt out of Sunday working has been highly publicised by this Department, in the press and made readily available on former Government sponsored websites such as Directgov and businesslink and is now available on
	www.gov.uk